You Can't Change A Good Thing
by Rossignol1984
Summary: Their love is undeniable, and it will always be. If only Seth and Summer wouldn't try to deny it! SS in their final year at college!
1. Author's Note

A/N: Hey everyone!

I'm back with my sixth story! Writing this story is so much fun and I really seem to be on a constant flow. I already have several chapters finished, so I might not take too long between updates.

Also, it's a Seth/Summer story (I could never write anything else), even if it might not seem like it at the beginning. Also, the first chapter is basically just an introductional chapter, with not so much plot in it. It's there for you to get to know the characters and their life situations better, but the plot will be up in the second chapter already, so watch out for it! ;)

And just to calm my not so nice reviewers from my last story: for this story, I have three beta readers which are all friends of mine but are really honest about my writing and everything, since I want this story to be good. But still, fanfiction is supposed to be fun in the first place, and that's what I do it for. Fun. And for giving my phantasy room to spread. So please don't be too bugged if there are any mistakes left.

But now off to the story, I hope you have fun! And please review if you read it. It means a lot lot lot.


	2. The Way We Were And Always Will Be

_A/N: Chapter one. Please Read&Review!_

**The Way We Were And Always Will Be **

The first sunrays found their way through the closed curtains and softly stroked Summer Robert's nose as she woke up. She sighed contently and rolled over to her side to face the sunrays completely. After almost four years of living in Chicago it still amazed her how warm the sun could be in the middle of February. All the horror stories she had heard about Chicago being the windy city where it's cold for ten months of the year and where there are more rain hours in one day than rain days in one month in California had proved everyone who had told her stuff like that wrong.

Sure, Chicago was cold – from the end of October until the middle of March it was cold most of the time, and it snowed more than Summer had ever seen before in her whole life, and in the summer the strong wind could ruin your hair as soon as you left a building, but Summer loved it. Chicago had given her freedom, freedom to escape the fake world of Newport Beach where everything was meant to be perfect but where people were all heavy drinkers and addicts to plastic surgeries behind the façade of glamour and glitter.

It had given her the possibility to start her own life, to grow up and take care of herself. Summer would never have guessed it when she still had been living back in Newport, but she actually enjoyed life without a housekeeper, a pool or a gardener – leave aside the fact that she didn't have a pool or a garden around here.

Summer sighed and suppressed a yawn, still not ready to open her eyes and start a new day. So she just stretched and let the sunrays warm her face a little more. When she felt her boyfriend waking up next to her, she smiled. They were just the perfect couple considering their getting up methods. After their alarm clock went off, both of them would dive back into their private worlds, hanging on to their own thoughts until one of them finally found the motivation to speak.

Today it was Summer's turn to start talking, and she turned around, slowly opening her eyes to protect them from the bright sunlight that already filled the room. He looked so adorable when he was waking up. The blue blanket was pulled up to his nose, his blond hair messy and pointing in every possible direction. His mouth was slightly opened as he mumbled something Summer didn't understand.

Summer smiled and reached out for the blonde head of hair to run her hand through it when his blue eyes popped open all of a sudden.

"Don't ruin my look." He mumbled and tried to look extra-pissed. The attempt went wrong and Summer giggled.

"You took care of that yourself." She said and stifled a yawn.

Craig Matthews slightly stuck out his tongue but smiled as well. "It's how you wear it these days." He said. "It's in."

Summer laughed and leant over to plant a gentle kiss on Craig's forehead. "Sure." She mumbled and made an attempt to get out of the bed when she felt Craig's hand around her wrist, pulling her back to him.

"Don't goooo." He lamented and gave her one of his puppy smiles he knew she could hardly resist.

Summer shook her head and smiled. "I haaave to." She said and glanced over to her alarm clock. "I'm meeting Seth in one hour, which means I'm already late."

Craig sat up a bit and shook his head. "Cancel on him."

Summer leant over to him again, this time kissing Craig on his cheek. "You know I can't. I already cancelled on him twice last week because of Jenny's so-called boyfriend trouble. And we need to start with this report, otherwise we'll both fail the finals." She twisted her wrist free from Craig's grip and tilted her head. "And I know you wouldn't wanna be responsible for that."

Craig sighed but nodded. "You're right." He said and started to crawl out from under the blankets as well. "I should probably get going too."

With a content smile on her face, Summer stood up again and went over to the window and opened it, letting some of the Chicago city noise fill the room. "What time does your plane leave?"

"Not until noon." Craig said and stood up as well, walking over to his girlfriend and hugging her from behind.

Summer closed her eyes and leant her head onto Craig's broad chest, pouting a little. "And for how long are you gonna be away this time?"

"Just for a week. They're not gonna need me for so long this time."

Summer nodded and sighed. Sometimes she really hated that Craig was on the road more time than he spend at home, but she couldn't help it. Someone needed to earn money so they could afford their living in Chicago – even if the monthly financial support that Summer's Dad sent them enabled them to have a good life. But Craig had to work.

He was three years older than Summer and had just been in his final year when Summer had started as a freshman on the Chicago college campus. They had gotten together a few weeks before Craig's finals had begun, and right after Craig had his college degree Summer had moved from the dorm room she had shared with her now best friend Jenny Carlton to Craig's apartment.

Summer had been studying for one year when Craig had started to work for a nationwide advertisement company. It was all he had ever wanted to do and Summer was happy for him – she was supposed to as his girlfriend, but there were days when she couldn't help but feel slightly pissed when Craig was away more than he was at home over the year.

But for now she had to live with the situation. The only good thing about Craig being away so often was that she had the apartment all to herself and she could study for her finals that were about to start in less than three months from now. If one of her Newport friends could see the Chicago Summer they probably wouldn't believe that it was really her – all grown up, taking care of herself and a hard-working young woman.

"Hey." Craig's voice interrupted Summer's thoughts and she smiled.

"Hm?"

"You alright?" Craig asked and kissed the top of Summer's head as they both stared in the distance of the Chicago city jungle.

"Sure." Summer replied and turned around to face Craig. "It's just... I'm gonna miss you."

Craig smiled and leant down to kiss her forehead. "And I'll miss you."

Summer pouted but couldn't help but smile. "I know." She said and leant her head onto Craig's chest again, closing her eyes. After a few minutes, she moved back a little. "I need to get ready." She said and forced a smile.

Craig stroked a strand of Summer's long brown hair behind her ear and nodded.

"I'll call you when I get to Seattle." He said and smiled.

Summer closed her eyes and nodded encouragingly. "I'll be waiting." She kissed Craig long and lovingly on his lips and moved away in the direction of the bathroom. This was gonna be a long long week.

* * *

It was amazing how little he had changed over the years. From everyone Summer had attended High School with Seth Cohen had definitely changed the less. Well, maybe that was because Seth was the only one she saw every day.

Her former best friend Marissa Cooper had wanted to attend Berkeley after High School but due to the attempted rape and shooting incident with Trey Atwood one year before their High School graduation it had been as good as impossible to get into any good college. And so Marissa had decided to talk her mother into letting her go, and she had moved to Honolulu to her Dad and had started to work as a waitress in a huge hotel restaurant. That had been kind of the fall of Marissa Cooper, from the rich girl to the waitress, but as far as Summer knew, Marissa was happy with her life.

Summer didn't remember the last time she had seen her former best friend. They had tried to stay in contact after their High School graduation but life had made them grow apart, and so they only saw each other for Christmas or Thanksgiving, if they were lucky.

Ryan Atwood still lived with his surrogate parents Kirsten and Sandy Cohen and their almost six year old daughter Lilly – well, he didn't really live with them, but he still lived back home in California in his own little house right on the beach and his girlfriend Kim. They both were in their final year at USC and planned on getting married as soon as they had their college degrees. Ryan stood in active contact with Seth and so Summer was filled on all the details about his and Kim's life.

But from all of them, Seth hadn't changed at all – at least that was what Summer thought. Okay, Seth had a different girlfriend now, Amy Warren, but his behavior and character were still the same than they were during their High School years. And he was still the person she trusted the most. She was aware that this role probably should have been filled by her actual boyfriend, but she just couldn't help herself with that – Seth was her best friend, her soulmate even.

There were days when Summer really wondered why Seth and her had broken up in the first place. But life had been confusing enough when the young couple had moved to Chicago four years ago. None of them had been taken by the colleges of their choice, and so the two of them had decided to attend Chicago city college instead. After a few weeks of studying their romance had kind of faded, and they had been more friends than a couple. By their first Chrismukkah in Chicago Seth and Summer had decided to take a break from their relationship in the hope of getting closer after a few weeks.

Looking back on that time that break might have been a mistake because instead of getting closer they had separated only more. And as if their growing apart hadn't been enough, Craig and Amy had entered their lives nearly at the same time, and faster than Summer had wanted it to happen she sort of fell in love with Craig. Well, she wasn't sure if she really loved him, she only knew that she cared a hell lot for him.

Of course Summer couldn't read minds and she didn't know how Seth felt about Amy, but everytime she saw the two of them together they looked very much in love, and Summer was happy for them. And after all the growing apart and finding new boy/girlfriends Seth and her were finally best friends.

Summer smiled when she approached the entrance of the campus library where Seth was sitting on one of the steps, his right leg stretched out, a pair of crutches laying next to him.

When Seth saw her coming up to him he stood up, a little clumsy during the process, but that was what a cast on your right knee brought with it.

Summer smiled and placed a kiss on Seth's cheek when she greeted him. "Hey you. How's your knee doing?"

Seth smiled and shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Doctors say the cast can be removed in a few days."

Summer patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, that's good news. You've been wearing that thing for long enough now." She said and winked.

Seth smiled and nodded. "Tell me about it."

His mind wandered off to the day of the accident. In an unlucky attempt to go ice skating with his girlfriend Amy in the time before Chrismukkah he had slipped on the ice sheet and broke his cruciate ligament during the fall. Summer had been visiting him in the hospital every day after his surgery, something that couldn't be said about Amy who had dropped in every now and then when she felt like it. Summer didn't want to interfere in their issues, but she found it unbelievable that as his girlfriend, Amy hadn't visited Seth in the hospital regularly.

"So are you ready for Shakespeare?" Summer asked and crossed her arms in front of her chest, narrowing her eyes to shut out the bright morning sunlight.

Seth tilted his head and studied Summer's face. He had known her for far too long to not notice that something was bothering her, and he laid one hand on her arm, trying to hold his equilibrium as he did so.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Summer looked away from him and shrugged, studying the people that were coming in and out from the library. "Nothing." She said and took a step forward. "Come on, let's get in there."

Seth whimpered and turned around as good as he could on his crutches. "Suuuuummer!" he yelled and smiled a little when she turned around. "Don't run away, I'm a disabled person!"

Summer smiled and walked back over to Seth, her arms still crossed in front of her chest. "Boy, I'm so glad when you get rid of that cast." She said and pointed to Seth's right knee. "At least then you won't have an excuse for your lameness."

Seth made a face at her and took his crutches, making his way up the stairs into the library, Summer next to him.

"So will you now tell me what's wrong?" he asked and looked down on Summer who still avoided his gaze as best as she could.

Seth stopped and held out one of his crutches to stop Summer from walking any further.

"Roberts."

"Don't call me Roberts, Cohen."

"Why not? You've been calling me Cohen all my life, why can't I call you Roberts?" Seth asked, smirking.

At the expression on Seth's face Summer had to laugh. "Simply because." She replied. "It's an unwritten law."

"Okay then Miss Roberts," Seth said, "I know something's bothering you, and I want you to tell me."

Summer grinned and looked up to Seth, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. "You're such a pain in the ass sometimes." She answered and paused. "It's Craig."

Seth tilted his head once again. "He's going away?"

Summer nodded and pouted a little. "Yeah. Again. For one week. Like he hasn't been away for too long the last few weeks."

Seth sighed and gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry." He said sincerely and gave her one of his famous puppy looks. "Wanna hug?"

Summer giggled but moved closer to Seth who held out his arm for her to crawl under. She noosed her arms around his torso and inhaled his aftershave. That was another thing on him that hadn't changed over the years. Ever since Summer knew Seth Cohen he had always used the same aftershave, and everytime she smelled it she immediately felt at home.

Seth pulled Summer as close as his crutches permitted it and held her until she moved away from him with a big smile on her face. "Thank you." She said sincerely and tilted her head. "Sometimes a girl just needs a hug."

Seth returned her smile and nodded toward the entrance of the library. "So, are you ready for Shakespeare?" he mimicked her phrase from before and winked.

Summer nodded and grinned. "Course. Let's get this thing started."

As they walked the stairs up to the library's entrance, the disappointment of Craig's departure slowly faded away and Summer actually started to feel better again.

Yes, being with Seth was still one of the best feelings existent.

* * *

_Next chapter: The Pain Of Being Left Behind_


	3. The Pain Of Being Left Behind

A/N: Thanks so much for your awesome reviews on chapter one! I'm so happy you like the story so far. Some of you said they wanted to read more about Craig and Amy, so in this chapter, you'll get a little more Amy. 

Ah, and something else. Caleb never died. It's important for the first part of the story. Plus, Seth has a little sister, but I already mentioned her in chapter one.

Okay please keep the reviews coming, they really mean a lot!

**The Pain Of Being Left Behind**

"So Craig left you again? You know what I think?" Jenny Carlton, Summer's best friend since college freshman year asked and popped another french frie in her mouth, swallowing it down with some diet coke.

The two girls were sitting in their favorite little diner on the college campus which was run by one of their best friends, Chris Walker. Chris was a few years older than them and had skipped college in his fifth semester because he had fallen in love with one of the other students who had wanted to discover the world and had been going backpacking through the countries of South Asia.

Unfortunately, their relationship hadn't quite turned out right and Chris had been moving back to Chicago and had opened his own little diner. He had a few lovers now and then but nothing serious. Everyone who knew him always joked about him having a crush on Seth, a thing that Seth didn't really consider as funny. But to all of them he was one of the sweetest friends you could imagine.

As Chris overheard Summer's and Jenny's conversation he sat down next to them and put a hand on Summer's arm who shoved her salad around on her plate.

"He left? Again? That guy's spending more time with his colleagues than he spends with you." He said and shoved Summer's butt so she moved more in the bench she was seating in.

Jenny nodded enthusiastically, her black ponytail swinging from left to right as she did so. "See, that's what I already told her. She needs to get rid of him, I mean a man who loves his colleagues more than his girlfriend... helloooo?"

Summer still hadn't looked up from her food and listened to her two friends discussing her love life. She didn't want to tell them, but she was tired of other people telling her that Craig was work-obsessed and she should go get another man. After all, it was still her business, right?

"Darling, you should have _so_ stayed with Jenny in the dorm instead of moving in with him." Chris said and stroked a strand of Summer's dark brown hair behind her ear. "That way you wouldn't be alone all day."

"Whoa Chris that was exactly what I wanted to tell her just before you came here. High fives, buddy." Jenny exclaimed and offered Chris her right hand to high-five her.

Finally Chris realized that Summer still hadn't said a word in their discussion about her and Craig's issues, and he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey, hun, you haven't said anything." He stated and looked into her eyes.

Summer did her best to avoid her friend's stare. She was just too pissed right now from everybody else talking about her love life to reply.

Jenny noticed that and reached over the table for Summer's hand. "Hey baby, it's okay. He's gonna be back soon. And he really loves you." She said and gave her a sweet smile.

Finally, Summer looked up and sighed. "Yeah, that's true." She said and took a sip of her diet coke when her cell phone that was laying on the table started to vibrate. When she saw the caller ID her gaze immediately lightened up.

She flipped the cell phone open. "Hey baby." She sung into the receiver, twisting a strand of hair around her finger. "Yeah, I miss you too."

Jenny and Chris made faces to each other, Jenny sticking her finger in her mouth to pretend like she was vomiting.

Summer decided it was best to ignore her friends and focused completely on the conversation with her boyfriend instead. "Yes?" she laughed and looked out of the window. "They say it's the rainy city."

Chris motioned to Jenny that he had to go on working and stood up, placing a kiss on her cheek as he left the table. Jenny tried to concentrate on her food instead on the love talk between Summer and Craig but she couldn't help but overhear the bittersweet couple talk the both of them seemed to have.

Summer giggled some more. "From the windy city to the rainy city. You don't leave anything out."

Jenny rolled her eyes and popped one last frie in her mouth, rubbing her hands on a napkin when she saw how Summer's gaze darkened all of a sudden. "You need to stay HOW LONG?" Summer exclaimed and her eyes widened twice their size.

Jenny frowned and stared at Summer intensely to find out for how long Craig would be gone this time.

Summer shook her head and gasped for air. "I can't believe this." She mumbled, trying her best to control the fury that was rising inside of her. "You said it's only gonna be for one week! How come it's three all of a sudden?"

Jenny bit her lip as she heard the word "three". It was really not funny anymore for how long Craig was away since his success at the company had started to kick off.

Summer pressed her lips together and nodded to herself, fumbling with the hem of the tank top she was wearing. "Mhm."

Jenny tilted her head to find out what was the topic of the discussion now, without success.

Summer sighed and looked out of the window again. "Sure. Talk to you then." She said, sounding mad and offended at the same time.

Jenny watched Summer closing her eyes, sighing once again. "I know. Bye."

Summer flipped the cell phone shut, her eyes closed. After a few moments she looked up and faced Jenny, plastering a smile on her lips. "Are you finished? I need to get studying for my English report."

Jenny sighed and nodded. "Yeah, finished." She grabbed her purse but hesitated to stand up. "Are you okay? Cuz, I don't know, you seemed really upset."

Summer shrugged and stood up. "He needs to stay three weeks instead of one. No big deal. I'm used to it."

Jenny still didn't seem to be convinced and went over to her friend, linking one of her arms through Summer's. "You don't have to do that." She said with a serious look on her face.

Summer frowned and shook her head. "Do what?"

"Pretend like you're fine and everything's great and funny and that shit."

"Jen, I... really don't wanna talk about that right now." Summer replied and started to walk out of the diner, pulling Jenny with her.

"Okay but you know that you can talk to me whenever you feel like it, right?" Jenny asked and tilted her head.

Summer tried not to look her best friend in the eyes and nodded. "Yeah." She said and stopped, pulling her arm out of Jenny's grip. "I know."

Jenny nodded contently and smiled. "Good." She placed a kiss on Summer's cheek. "I'll call you tonight. We can go see a movie."

Summer smiled and nodded. "Sounds great." She replied and closed her jacket. "If I'm not at home try my cell. I'm meeting Seth for the report."

Jenny smiled and raised her eyebrows a little. "Sure. Seth." She said and smirked. "I should've seen this coming." She mumbled to herself so Summer couldn't hear it.

Summer waved and turned around to make her way for the elevated train.

"Hey Summer!" Jenny yelled and Summer turned around again. "And stop studying so much." Jenny hissed. "You're turning into a bookworm."

Summer shook her head and smiled, waving to her friend before she started to make her way home... into an empty apartment.

* * *

"So when's your plane gonna be arriving? I just want to make sure that your Dad's gonna be there to pick you up." Kirsten Cohen asked her son who was laying on his bed in his Chicago apartment, his girlfriend for three years, Amy Warren laying half on top of him, her hand twisting his curls around her fingers. And with the enjoyable view on Amy's bare back Seth found it extremely hard to concentrate on what his mother was saying.

"Umm, don't quite know." He mumbled and traced the long scar on Amy's upper back that she had kept since a complicated operation of her scapula. A major motorcycle accident after her High School graduation had given Amy the scar, and when she had first met Seth, she had had her difficulties to show herself to him with this – as she called it – huge beauty "mistake". But since it had always been Seth Cohen's specialty to break women's inner shells Amy had presented him the scar after they'd been dating for a while – and ever since then, it was Seth's favorite place to stroke her when they were making out.

"Then go and look at your plane ticket." Kirsten ordered and Seth rolled his eyes. "I'm busy now, mother."

Kirsten paused for a while and Seth heard the tiny voice of Lilly, his little six year old sister, in the background. "Honey, you can't talk to him right now. Now please eat your sandwich, we're leaving in a few minutes." Kirsten said to her while Seth concentrated on kissing Amy's neck.

"So Seth, would you please go and check your ticket for your arrival time?"

Unfortunately, Seth couldn't hear his mother anymore, since his hand that was holding the phone receiver had slipped down on Amy's back in the direction of her butt.

"Seth?" Kirsten asked, this time a little louder than before.

The couple didn't react since they were both occupied with kissing each other.

"SETH EZEKIEL!" This time, Seth and Amy stopped kissing and stared at each other, Seth raising one eyebrow and looking down on Amy until his gaze reached the phone receiver in his hand.

Amy giggled a little and rolled off of Seth, stretching her arms above her head, and Seth reddened when he put the receiver back to his ear. "Mom?"

"What were you doing?" Kirsten asked in such a shrill volume that Seth needed to hold the receiver some inches away from his ear.

"Umm searching for the ticket." Seth replied and winked at Amy who was still laying giggling beside him.

"So when does your plane arrive now?"

Seth frowned at the harshness and impatience in his mother's voice and motioned for Amy to hand him his plane ticket from the nightstand. He turned the ticket around and smiled. "Umm yeah, plane's arriving at eleven." He finally replied and threw the ticket over to the nightstand again.

"Okay then, your father's gonna pick you up… do you have a present?"

"Present for me?" There was the tiny voice again and Seth rolled his eyes. He had booked a flight the next morning to visit his family and celebrate his sister's sixth birhtday. Some might have considered it a huge investment to fly across the country for the birthday of a five-year-old girl, but even if Seth acted like Lilly was bugging him most of the time he couldn't deny how much he really loved her. And seeing the huge brown eyes of his little sister open the rollerblades he had gotten her would be reward enough to fly home.

"I told you to finish your sandwich Lilly." Kirsten ordered in her typical motherly way, and Seth laughed. "Let her talk to me." He said and Kirsten sighed.

"We won't get anywhere anytime soon if she doesn't finish her sandwich right now Seth, and-"

"Mother I only wanna talk to her. I see her so rarely these days, so why would you deny me the pleasure of hearing her voice?"

Amy giggled again as she listened to Seth, and Seth could practically hear his mother roll her eyes at the other end of the line.

"Fine then. You two are impossible." Kirsten finally gave in and handed the receiver over to her daughter who pressed it tightly to her ear.

"Hi Seth!" she chimed, still chewing from a bite of her sandwich.

"Hey pumpkin-head." Seth replied and started to play with a strand of Amy's hair. "How does it feel to be almost six?"

"I lost a tooth." Lilly replied, completely ignoring what Seth had just asked her. "And Mommy told me to put it under my pillow for the toothfairy to get it and when I woke up the next morning the tooth fairy had given me a hundred dollars!"

Seth's eyes widened three times their usual size. "You got HOW MUCH?" he yelled and blinked twice. "Let me talk to Mom."

"Do you have my present yet?"

"None of your business. Now gimme Mom." Seth ordered and Lilly sighed into the receiver dramatically. "Men." He heard her say.

"Seth?"

"Mother, is it true that the pumpkin-head got like a hundred bucks from the so-called toothfairy?" Seth asked, still a bewildered expression on his face.

Kirsten cleared her throat. "Yeah well, the _toothfairy_ should maybe use a flashlight next time _he's_ rewarding Lilly for losing her baby teeth." She stressed the words "toothfairy" and "he" in a manner that left the only conclusion that Seth's Dad had been mixing up the dollar notes, and Seth shook his head.

"I wonder why the toothfairy never mixed up the money for my baby teeth." Seth said and Amy raised an eyebrow.

"The toothfairy was way younger then and didn't need reading glasses to distinguish one dollar notes from hundred dollar notes." Kirsten replied. "So honey, your sister and I really need to go now… we'll see you tomorrow."

"Yap, see ya tomorrow. Bye Mom."

"Bye honey."

Seth pushed the red button on the phone and leant over Amy to kiss her neck, Amy noosing her arms around his head, pulling him closer to her.

"Mmm you really need to go?" she mumbled and kissed his forehead while Seth was still working on kissing every single inch of her throat.

Seth lifted his head a little and shot her a confused look. "When? Tomorrow?"

Amy nodded and started to massage Seth's neck.

Seth frowned and sat up a little. "It's my sister's birthday. Of course I have to go." He said and watched Amy lowering her eyelids.

"What's going on with you?"

Amy shook her head and smiled. "Nothing. I just… forget it."

Now it was Seth's turn to shake his head. "Seriously. I wanna know what's wrong with visiting my family."

"Nothing's wrong with that. I'm just gonna miss you, that's all." Amy answered and smiled again.

Seth smirked and nodded, rubbing his chest. "Yeah, I'm worth missing." He said proudly and Amy shook her head as she pulled him down to her again, hugging him tightly.

"I love you." She whispered in his ear and closed her eyes.

"I know." Seth replied and his grin faded. He felt Amy nodding and sighed.

That was one thing they were doing – Amy always told Seth she loved him but he wasn't able to tell her those three words back. At first Amy thought of it as funny when Seth started to compare them to Sam and Molly from "Ghost" where Sam had never been able to tell Molly that he loved her – only at the very end when he was dead he had managed to confess his love.

But now, after almost four years of dating, Amy found it kind of strange that Seth hadn't told her he loved her only once. And Seth felt kind of embarrassed for that too, but he had loved only once in his life, and no matter how strong the feelings for Amy were – they had never reached the high he had felt while being with Summer. And that was the reason why he had never told her he loved her. Because he just wasn't sure if he did.

And Amy wasn't stupid – she knew the exact reason why Seth couldn't tell her those three words – but she had decided a long while ago not to give up hope that one day she would hear the words that meant so much to her coming out of Seth's mouth. And until that day finally arrived she needed to be patient.

* * *

A few hours later the phone in Kirsten Cohen's office started to ring for what felt like the hundreth time today. With an unnerved sigh she picked up and identified herself.

"The Newport Group, Kirsten Cohen speaking."

"Chambers Cohen & Darcy, Sandy Cohen speaking."

Kirsten smiled when she heard the voice of her husband and leant back in her desk chair.

"Hey Sandy. How's work today?" she asked and started to massage her left temple with her free hand.

"Good, as usual. I just called to see how _you_ are doing. Any news from the hospital?" Sandy replied.

Kirsten sighed. "I talked to them like five times within one hour. From the way things look now he's gonna be released for Lilly's birthday."

"Have you talked to Seth yet?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah, his plane's arriving at 11 a.m. tomorrow."

"Good. But I meant... have you told him about... you know. Your father."

Kirsten rolled her lips inward and closed her eyes. "I couldn't. Lilly was there."

Sandy sighed. "We need to tell them about their grandfather."

Kirsten nodded to herself and started twisting the phone wire around her fingers.

"That's true, Sandy, but..." she hesitated and sighed. "We shouldn't ruin Lilly's birthday by telling them that their grandfather's gonna die."

"Seth's grown up. He deserves to know the truth. And he's gonna freak when he finds out that we didn't tell him." Sandy said.

Kirsten nodded to herself. Deep inside herself she knew that Sandy was right. They had tried to hide Caleb Nichol's cancer from their eldest son for so long, and now there was no hope left for him... and Seth still didn't have a clue about what was really going on with his grandfather. And neither did Ryan.

"I promise we're gonna tell them." Kirsten said. "But not this weekend. Not on the day Lilly's been looking forward to since her last birthday."

Sandy sighed again and shrugged. "If you say so. I'm picking up Thai for dinner. I'll be home at eight."

"Okay. See you at home. Bye." Kirsten answered and hung up before Sandy could even reply.

She leant forward and propped her elbows on her desk, taking her head in her hands, and thinking about what her husband had just told her. Her father's cancer had been discovered over one year ago, and by that time it had already spread across his whole body. His case had been hopeless then, and it was even more hopeless now. And Kirsten couldn't say why, but she had tried to keep this serious piece of information as far from her children as she could.

Well, it was okay that Lilly didn't know, Kirsten doubted that at the age of almost six, she would understand the whole importance of the problem. And she was almost sure that Ryan already knew what was wrong with her father, after all, he wasn't stupid. But Seth still didn't have a clue about what was going on, and for some strange reason Kirsten was afraid to tell him the truth about his grandfather.

Caleb Nichol was Newport's cockroach, but he was still a good grandfather, and Seth and Lilly loved him dearly. Telling her children that their grandfather was about to die was one of the most difficult things Kirsten Cohen ever had to do.

And she just wasn't ready to tell them.

* * *

_Next chapter: More Bounce…In California_


	4. More Bounce In California

_A/N: Thanks so much for your reviews on the last chapter! I know you want some more SS, and I PROMISE it's gonna come! Just give this story some time to take off, and you'll get SS. _

_This chapter is about Seth and his journey to California for his sister's birthday. It's only about Seth and the Cohen family, so no Summer in it, it's more about Seth getting suspicious of what's going on betweenhis parents and Caleb. Plus, there are some cute Seth/Lilly scenes.I hope you're gonna read it never the less, even if there's no SS in this chapter. My three betas really liked it really much and I really think you should read it and see yourselves ;)_

**More Bounce… In California**

"Say hi to the munchkin from me. And tell her happy birthday."

While Seth waited for the flight hours to pass by he thought about the last words Summer had told him over the phone that morning, and he started to wonder why everyone among his family and friends felt like they needed to give his sister all kinds of stupid nicknames the English language had to offer.

Okay, he called her pumpkin-head. But that nickname went back to the day Lilly had been born. The first time Seth had ever seen his little sister her head had been all red from crying and there was only a teeny tiny fluff of dark hair on top of it… and all those things made Lilly look like a pumpkin, and that's how his special nickname for his sister had been invented.

Ryan wasn't so cool of course. From day one, he had only called their little sister Lilly, Lil sometimes when he felt like it. He hadn't even lived a whole year with the Cohens when Lilly had been born – just a few days after Sandy and Kirsten had decided to be Ryan's surrogate parents Kirsten had found out about her pregnancy – and Seth figured that Ryan didn't want to seem like an idiot or something by calling Lilly with anything than her real name. Or maybe that was kind of a Chino thing… everything was sad and serious in Chino so nobody had funny and nice nicknames… or something like that.

Seth grinned to himself when he noticed that his rambling problem had taken over his thoughts now too and he looked out of the window to see that the plane started to descend. That was a good thing though – he really needed to stretch his leg, since a narrow airplane seat wasn't the best for a just healing cruciate ligament rupture.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're beginning to descend on Newport Beach Airport. Please return your seats in an upright position. The temperature in Newport Beach is 64 degrees fahrenheit, the weather is sunny and cloudless. We hope you had a comfortable flight and would like to wish you a nice stay in California."

Seth smiled some more. California. Wheeee. How exciting. Some place he had never been before. Dreams came true.

He shook his head when he caught himself being sarcastic and started to straighten the back of his seat. He wondered if Lilly really liked the pink Barbie rollerblades his mother had suggested him to buy as much as he had been told. He hoped for his little sister's sake that she did because he had spent the insane amount of almost 500 dollars for one pair of rollerblades… rollerblades out of which, by the way, Lilly would have grown out of in less than a year from now.

Seth sighed and closed his eyes and prepared himself for the weekend that was about to follow as he watched how the Californian soil came closer and closer with every second. When he felt a vibration of the plane cabin he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

He was home.

* * *

"Seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth!"

This had been loud and clearly, for nobody to miss. Seth looked up from the luggage carousel he was waiting at to see his little sister running towards him, her arms stretched out and her long brown curls flying behind her.

He smiled and opened his arms as well, bending down a little – as far as his cast allowed him to – to have Lilly's height, and hugged her tightly when she had arrived in his arms.

"That was loud. Happy Birthday, sis." He said and kissed Lilly's cheek.

Lilly nodded proudly and grinned, showing off her front tooth-spaces.

"Whoa what happened to your face?" Seth asked and stood up again, wincing a little. His knee was definitely not ready to take little sisters. "Looks like there's something missing." He said and pointed out to Lilly's tooth-spaces.

Lilly giggled and grinned only broader. "I got a hundred dollars for those!" she said and nodded for emphasize.

Seth put on a pained expression and nodded. "I've heard about that." He replied. "Where's Dad?"

"He's right behind ya." Sandy answered the question himself and hugged his son tightly, examining him. "You look good. Your knee's getting better, huh?"

"Geez, Dad, I wouldn't have noticed that, thanks." Seth replied and stuck out his tongue a little.

Sandy gave his son a clout and grabbed Seth's suitcase that was just passing them by on the luggage carousel. "You better control yourself these days... your sister has become very perceptive of bad manners and especially swearwords... so try to keep them down."

Seth raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Whatever you say, father. So where's the rest of the clan?"

"At work and in school!" Lilly sung and smiled innocently up to her father and brother.

Seth shook his head and pointed out to her. "Shouldn't you be like in school too?" he asked and Lilly shook her head. "Duuuh. Not on a Saturday."

Seth narrowed his eyes. "Oh yeah? And Ryan can be in school on a Saturday, huh?"

"Yeah he can." Lilly replied and stuck out her tongue. "He's in college, he's in school every day. For studying with Kim."

Seth raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Studying with Kim. He had to talk about THAT excuse with his brother later.

Sandy laughed when he saw how his two children drove each other almost crazy and patted Seth on the shoulder.

"Let's go now, you two. I bet Seth's tired from the flight."

"Oh yeah Dad, a two hours flight from Chicago to Newport can be really exhausting."

Sandy shook his head and sighed. "Has your sarcasm increased since the last time we saw you? Or have you always been like that and we just didn't notice?" he asked and Seth grinned.

"Maybe both." He replied and took his crutches, pointing to the exit doors. "Let's go now. I wanna go home."

* * *

"My boy! How are you, honey?" Kirsten Cohen exclaimed and looked down on Seth's knee when he had entered the house.

Seth smiled and hugged his mother as best as his crutches allowed him and shrugged. "Okay, I guess. The cast can be removed in a few weeks though."

"Aww, that's some good news." Kirsten replied and shoved Seth into the family room where she sat him on the couch, putting his leg high and fluffing the pillows in his back. "The flight must've been horrible with that cast and crutches."

Seth shrugged again and shook his head. "It was okay. Seriously mom, I've not come here to be mothered."

Kirsten put her hands in her hips and gave Seth one of her famous mother glares. "No you haven't. But Lilly's party starts only in a few hours and until then I want you to get some rest."

Seth sighed, well aware of the fact that his mother didn't allow any protest and nodded. "If you say so."

Kirsten smiled contently and placed the remote control next to Seth. "I do say so. I'll be right back with some soda and sandwiches."

Seth rolled his eyes. "Ooookay."

As soon as Kirsten had disappeared around the corner of the family room she leant against the refrigerator and sighed, closing her eyes. He looked so hurt with his crutches and his cast... she just couldn't tell him.

Just as if he had read her mind, Sandy entered the kitchen and shot Kirsten a serious look. "What's wrong?" he asked and went over to his wife, taking her in his arms.

Kirsten shook her head. "It's just... Sandy, I don't know. I mean he really needs to know what's going on with his grandfather... but he looks so miserable, I just can't tell him yet."

"Honey, I thought we agreed on not telling him anyway this weekend."

Kirsten lowered her gaze and nodded. "You're right. Although I'm not sure if I can keep up the happy façade knowing that my father has less than two months to live." She whispered and was relieved when she heard Lilly's voice in the family room. At least that meant that neither Seth nor her would hear anything of this conversation.

"So where's the birthday girl?" Ryan's voice interrupted their conversation, and Kirsten looked up to see Ryan and his girlfriend Kim entering the kitchen, a huge present wrapped in pink paper, a big yellow bow on top of it, carrying with them.

Kirsten put on a happy smile and pointed to the family room. "Over there. Go and say hi. We'll be there soon!" she said and shoved Ryan and Kim out of the room to finish her conversation with Sandy.

With a bewildered look on his face the young couple left the kitchen, and Kirsten lurked after them to make sure they didn't hear what she was saying to her husband. She felt how Sandy took her hands and she focused her attention on him again. "If you're uncomfortable with that tell him."

Kirsten smiled a little but shook her head firmly. "No, Sandy. Not today. Not on Lilly's birthday." She replied and Sandy sighed. "Maybe tomorrow." Kirsten added and placed a quick kiss on Sandy's lips, opening the refrigerator to check on the cake that was stored in there for Lilly.

Sandy raised his eyebrows but shrugged and went over to one of the shleves to get some glasses for his guests out of it. "Maybe tomorrow." He whispered and shook his head.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the living room, Seth grinned broadly when he spotted his brother and his future sister-in-law. "Hey guys." He said and stretched out his hand for Ryan to shake it. "I would get up…" he added and looked around to make sure that Kirsten wasn't there. "But Mom forbids it." He whispered and shrugged, reaching out his hand for Kim as well who was sitting down opposite of him after the greetings.

Ryan laughed and shook his head. "You're almost twenty-three and your Mom has you all whipped."

"What is whipped?" Lilly's tiny voice asked and she stared at Ryan with her big brown eyes.

The three young adults stared at each other and broke into a laugh, leaving Lilly angry.

"You're not supposed to laugh about me!" she yelled and stomped her foot. "It's my birthday!"

Seth grinned and tried to suppress his giggles, pointing for Lilly to sit down next to him. With her arms still crossed, Lilly went over to her brother and sat at the edge of the couch pouting. "Don't be such a girl." Seth said and smiled.

Lilly looked up and tried to put on the best angry look she could manage.

"I AM a girl." She replied and continued pouting, and Seth stroked her hair. "You're a birthday girl." He said and smiled. "Still mad?" He looked at her with the same puppy dog eyes that she just gave him, and Lilly smiled a little. "Not if I get a cool present."

"Cool present, huh? You're gonna love this then." Ryan said and sat down next to Lilly so that the little girl was in between her two brothers.

Faster than Ryan could react, Lilly's little hands had grabbed the huge present he was holding and started to open it, and she might have gotten away with her little present stealing if it wasn't for Kirsten to interrupt her.

"Young Lady, what did we say about the presents?" Kirsten asked in her typical mother voice, and Seth rolled his eyes.

"Geez Mom let her have a little fun. It's her birthday." He tried to defense his little sister.

"Yeah Mom it's my birthday, geez." Lilly repeated and grinned at Kirsten with her toothless mouth.

Kirsten rolled her eyes but couldn't help but to laugh about her children. She put a tablet of drinks down in front of Seth on the table. When Seth tried to move and reach out for a glass she shoved him back on the couch.

"What did I say about moving around, young man?" she said in the same voice with that she had just ranted Lilly, and Ryan and Kim grinned broadly when she saw that scene.

Seth winced a little and held out his hand for his mother to place a drink in it.

Right now his mother had achieved that he felt even younger than his little sister. It was definitely great to be home.

* * *

A few hours later, just a few minutes before Caleb should arrive at the Cohen house, Seth had managed to sneak out of his mother's permanent control and had gone up to his old room. It had taken him ages to get up the stairs with his crutches – he had never realized how lucky he was that his Chicago apartment building had an elevator – and he was really glad that he could just fall down on his bed when he had reached his room. As he lay there his gaze wandered around on the walls and he noticed that his parents hadn't changed a thing since he had last visited, and he smiled contently.

Being in his old room was always like having a flashback to High School, and he enjoyed that. Seeing all the old photos reminded him of how his real life had begun – how Summer had finally started to talk to him and how Ryan came in his life and had helped him to get some friends.

As his gaze wandered up and down the room Seth realized for the first time ever that he had never taken away the photos that had been taken from Summer and him when they had still been a couple, and he smiled. Well, that was part of his old life, and his room was his old life, so the photos had a right to be there. His gaze stopped at a drawing he had made from Summer when he and Zach had started to work on "Atomic County". It was just Summer's face with her wavy hair framing her head, and he remembered that scene vividly. Summer had never looked more beautiful than that day, except for the day of their graduation.

Just when Seth was about to drift off into his deep world of thoughts, Ryan knocked on the door and walked in, sitting down on Seth's desk chair. "High School flashback?" he asked.

Seth sat up a bit and nodded. "Yup. Makes me think of some good times." He replied and sighed. "I hate it when I become melancholic."

"So you gotta stop living in the past hen." Ryan answered and yawned.

Seth rolled his eyes and stretched. "I'm not living in the past, buddy. I'm living right here. Right now. So what did you two get Lilly for her birthday?" He proudly held up his forefinger. "See? That was a presence question. Not living in the past."

Ryan shook his head and sighed. "Kim insisted on buying that doll house Kirsten suggested. I was more for the playstation."

Seth laid a hand on his heart and nodded. "Hearing you say this makes me feel so proud. I really taught you how to love a good playstation game over the years, haven't I?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow and just stared at Seth with his typical Ryan Atwood glare, and Seth tilted his head. "Okay then. YOU are the better player. The student has become the master." He admitted and shrugged. "But I showed you how to handle a playstation. I know you don't have such happy things in Chino."

"Right. Cuz everything's sad and unmodern in Chino."

Seth smiled broadly and nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed, stretching his leg.

"So, why isn't Amy with you?" Ryan asked and Seth looked up, shrugging. "Studying or something I guess. Flying all the way to California for one night is a little too stressy."

Ryan raised his eyebrows and Seth held up his hands as if he wanted to apologize for something. "Women, buddy. Women."

The two boys stared at the different corners of the room in silence for a few minutes. Of course it was Seth who found his speech first. "And what's new with the small Atwood family? Any engagement parties or other hot love details I need to know about?"

Ryan just shot Seth a blank look and Seth sat straight, folding his hands in his lap. "Is there something you wanna tell me?" he asked and grinned, and Ryan shrugged.

"Kim and I… have actually thought about…" Ryan paused and sighed. "Having a baby, you know."

After Ryan had finished his last sentence, Seth's jaw dropped and he blinked a few times to make sure that he had gotten this information right. "Sounds… interesting." He said and blinked again. "You're joking, right?"

Ryan shook his head. "Why would I?"

Seth nodded. "Right, why would you? You're Ryan Atwood, you never make jokes."

"What's so shocking about that?" Ryan asked.

Seth shrugged. "I don't know, man. A baby is so… adult." Seth stressed the word "adult" as if it was some disease or strange thing you better not talk about, and Ryan laughed.

"I'm pretty positive you wouldn't be wanting a baby right now." He said, and Seth nodded enthusiastically.

"So right. I mean two Amys? No thanks."

"Seth? Ryan? Your grandfather's here, let's have something to eat!"

Kirsten's voice, coming from downstairs, interrupted the two boys and Ryan went over to the bed to help Seth get up. "Hey Ryan. Have you told Mom and Dad yet?" Seth asked while taking his crutches and heading for the door.

Ryan shook his head. "Nah, not yet. This weekend's Lilly's birthday. I don't wanna take the attention away from her."

Seth turned around and tilted his head. "Aww, how cuuuute." He said sarcastically before he made his way to the stairs, followed by Ryan who grinned.

"Where are yoouuuuuuu? I wanna have my caaaaaake!" Now it was Lilly's voice that came up the stairs and Seth imitated her while taking step by step downstairs.

"I bet you're reconsidering the baby idea when you hear this little devil, do you?" he asked and Ryan grinned.

Something never changed when Seth visited from Chicago, and that was Seth himself.

* * *

This was weird.

_Extremely weird. _

Even a blind man couldn't deny the strange glances his parents and his grandfather exchanged throughout the whole dinner. And whenever one of the "adults" seemed to having been "caught" by Seth while they were staring at each other they would redden all of a sudden and concentrate on their food instead of sharing those mysterious glances any further.

The good thing was that he didn't need to talk – and neither did his parents, his grandfather or Ryan and Kim, since Lilly was rambling about the differences of being in kindergarten and being in school ever since the dinner had started. Everyone pretended to listen to her but none of them really did – they were just too busy exchanging weird glances to listen to what the youngest member of the Cohen family was saying.

So when Seth caught his mother during one of those glances, he dropped his fork so everyone looked up from their plates and Lilly stopped talking. He nodded to his mother and raised an eyebrow, pointing from her to his father to his grandfather and back.

"So what's this supposed to be?" he asked and saw how all the color drained from Kirsten's face.

"What do you mean, sweetie?" she asked and forced a smile that was so unnatural that Seth felt like vomiting right on his plate.

"This thing between the three of you – the weird glances and all that stuff."

Kirsten blinked twice and continued smiling. "Oh, nothing. This is just about..." she paused and looked over to Lilly who was totally unaware of what was going on around her as she played with one her favorite Barbie dolls that always joined dinner in the Cohen house. "About somebody's birthday presents." She said and smiled.

Seth pressed his lips together and nodded. Sure. "Yeah, since when do I look completely stupid?" he asked, and the weirdness that was hanging over the table definitely reached its high.

Caleb jumped in, putting an abrupt end to the conversation. "So what about if Lilly's getting her presents now? What do you think about that?" he asked and focused on Lilly who had dropped the Barbie and smiled broadly at the word "presents".

She grinned only broader now and nodded enthusiastically. "I wanna see my presents!" she chimed and clapped her tiny hands, and Seth sighed and rolled his eyes. No matter what was going on here, his parents definitely didn't want the children to know about it. And that was what bothered him the most. He wasn't a child anymore, and he had the right to know what was going on – no matter if it was good or bad news.

But for now the discussion was over – whether he liked it or not.

* * *

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Mooooommy look!" Lilly squeaked and held up the pink pair of rollerblades Seth had bought her, smiling from one ear to the other and showing off her tooth-spaces.

Kirsten smiled proudly at Seth and nodded. "Wow, those are super sweetie. Shouldn't you say thank you to your brother for those?"

Lilly blinked twice and jumped over to Seth who was sitting on the couch and smiled broadly. The little girl threw her arms around Seth's neck and giggled. "Thaaaaank you, they're sooo cooool!" she yelled and before Seth could hug her back she was already back on the floor with her new rollerblades.

"I'm glad you like them." Seth said and looked over to his parents. "They cost a fortune." He added. Kirsten raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Poor boy." She said. "We pay you everything, your rent, your food, your clothes… and now you need to buy a little present for your sister and you're poor and live on the streets."

Seth made a face and focused his attention back to his sister who was just unwrapping Ryan's and Kim's over-dimensional doll house, smiling broadly. When Caleb cleared his throat and Seth noticed that he shot one of those special glares to his mother he shook his head. "I'll be back in a few minutes." His grandfather said and left the room, Kirsten's gaze never leaving her father on his way out.

Did his parents really think that he was THAT dumb? Seth really wasn't perceptive of many many things, but even a Seth Cohen could see that THOSE glances were strange. He could understand if his grandfather was in some financial problems (which wouldn't be a surprise) his parents didn't want to tell him in front of Lilly. A little girl certainly didn't have to know about problems with the Newport Group or whatever.

But why in all world did his parents think that they couldn't tell him? Seth shot a glare over to Ryan who watched Kirsten with the same intensity than he did, and Seth sighed. Before he could sink even further into his thoughts, another squee of his little sister made him focus on the unwrapped dollhouse, and he smiled when Lilly clapped her hands and opened all the little doors and windows that were in the house. At least one person in this room was happy.

* * *

A few hours later, when Ryan, Kim and Caleb had left again, Seth had the honor to bring his little sister to bed, and he decided to go to sleep too after Lilly was stored. It had been a long day for him, and the combination of his pain medication, a little, permanent squeaking sister and three adults who obviously tried to hide something from him had made him extremely exhausted.

Lilly had always been easy to bring to bed, unlike other children, and Seth was completely grateful about that at the moment. His little sister was laying in front of him, staring at him with her big brown eyes and a happy smile on her face.

"Today was fun." She said, and Seth smiled, brushing a strand of hair away from her forehead.

"That makes me happy." He said sincerely and Lilly frowned. "Why?"

Seth tilted his head and started to stroke his sister's long brown curls. "When you're happy I'm happy too." He replied, and he meant it. Nothing in the world could beat the wonderful feeling of seeing Lilly laughing and happy.

Lilly giggled and nodded. "I see. I'm happy when you're here." She said and Seth frowned.

"What, you aren't happy when I'm in Chicago?" he asked.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "Duh. I'm always happy. But you make me happy. You're funny."

Seth grinned. "I am." He said proudly and kissed Lilly on the cheek. "Alright. Time for you to sleep, birthday girl."

Lilly sighed and nodded. "Oookay. Seth?"

"Hm?"

"Why isn't Summer with you?"

Seth, who was just stuffing the blanket around Lilly's tiny body, stopped in his tracks and frowned. "Why should she be, pumpkin? You know that Amy is my girlfriend, right?"

Lilly slapped a hand on her forehead. "Riiight." She said and shook her head. "I forget that. But you need to be with Summer."

Seth blinked and frowned. It wasn't enough that Chris and everyone reminded him of that little fact all the time, now his little sister was starting, too. "Why?"

Lilly rolled her eyes. "Because you are happy when you're with Summer."

Seth smiled and shook his head. "Time. For. Bed." He said and pulled the blanket up to Lilly's chin, placing a kiss on her forehead. "And you stop worrying about me and my women."

Lilly grinned and nodded. "Okay. Night Seth."

"Night Lilly." He stroked her hair one last time, took his crutches and left the room as quiet as he could.

After a few more steps Seth had finally arrived in his room, and he slumped down on the bed, only managing to take off his shirt before he crawled under the blue covers. He closed his eyes and just waited to drift off into sleep within the next few minutes, but his brain was working too hard for that.

He recalled everything that had happened that day, from the flight from Chicago to Newport over everything that had happened at the Casa de Cohen, and despite his exhaustion he found himself wide awake.

He sighed and pulled the blankets over his head. The song was right. They really had more bounce in California.

* * *

_Next Chapter: Sweet Home Chicago – a funny SS reunion._


	5. Sweet Home Chicago

_A/N: New chapter today! The funny SS reunion, as promised. I've used something I do every day for their reunion conversation, but I've never read it in any other ff… so I guess this is kinda new… but see yourselves what I'm talking about ;) _

_A/N: Thanks so much for your lovely comments on the last chapter! I'm glad you liked it even though there wasn't any Summer in it. I promise this is never ever gonna happen again!_

_theocroxxx: OMG yes I saw the latest episode and I was crying too! That was the saddest episode ever, and I know now that Summer crying breaks my heart! I just hope they'll make up real soon!_

_Please R/R. I might update sooner if you do ;)_

**Sweet Home Chicago**

The next day, Seth woke up early, and he was surprised that he had been able to find some sleep after he had been laying awake for almost three hours after having gone to bed. And he didn't even feel tired, which was a thing that surprised him even more.

After a few minutes he had managed to go down to the kitchen and poured himself some coffee when he heard Ryan's voice behind him.

"You're up early."

Seth spun around and frowned, shaking his head. "I'm up early?" he asked and shook his head. "What about you? Don't you have, like, a home where you should be right now?"

Ryan smirked and held out his coffee mug for Seth to fill it. "Kim always goes for breakfast with her parents and sisters on Sundays." He explained. "And I come here."

Seth frowned. "Since when?"

"Since always." Ryan replied and shrugged.

Seth sighed and got himself some cereal while Ryan took out the cereal dishes and the milk, and he smiled. No matter how long the two of them were separated throughout the year, when they met at their parents' house everything was like it had been back in their High School days.

Seth put the cereal down on the counter and sank on the bar chair next to Ryan, sipping from his coffee. "So… since when are the parents and Gramps acting like that…" he mimicked the gazes the "adults" had given each other the day before, "… with all those glares and gazes and stuff?"

Ryan sighed and shrugged. "Don't know what you mean."

Seth rolled his eyes and put his mug down. "Like this, buddy…" he repeated the gaze and Ryan stifled a laugh because Seth looked like he was going insane with his eyes wide open and his tongue half hanging out of his mouth.

"Your parents have never looked like that." Ryan said and shoved a spoon full of cereal in his mouth. "But I know what you mean now."

Seth nodded and looked at Ryan expectingly and Ryan blinked at him. "What do you want me to say now?"

"Dude, I wanna know why the parents are acting like that. With the staring and stuff. Is anything wrong with the Newport Group? Are my parents getting a divorce? Is gramps going to jail?"

Instead of answering, Ryan just stared at Seth blankly and Seth rolled his eyes. "Don't say so many things at once, man, you make my head all dizzy."

"Don't be so pissed man, I have no idea why your parents are acting like that."

Seth bit the insides of his cheeks. "Really?"

Ryan squirmed in his seat. "Well, the only thing I know is… it has something to do with your grandpa."

Seth poked Ryan with his finger triumphantly. "Ha! So you do know something!"

Ryan held up his hands in apology. "Yeah but that's all I know, I swear. And it's just a guess so I could be totally wrong."

Seth nodded and sighed. "I wonder if they're gonna tell me before I leave."

"By the way, when are you leaving?"

Glancing at the clock Seth counted. "My plane leaves at six-thirty, so I have like… 8 hours from now." He sighed. "And I promised Summer to stop by at her house and get her some of her stuff."

Ryan grinned. "You and Summer's dad… should be interesting. Need someone to drive you there?"

"That's why I told you the story in the first place, actually."

Shaking his head, Ryan sighed. "I'm glad when you're gonna be able to walk like a normal person again."

Seth nodded. "Tell me about it, buddy."

* * *

The eight hours Seth had counted during breakfast flew by incredibly fast, and before Seth even realized it he found himself standing in the waiting hall of Newport airport again, this time his whole family gathered around him to wish him a good flight. The visit at Summer's house had been very unspectacular, since Summer's dad and step-mother weren't at home. So Seth had only had a little chat with the housekeeper who had handed him a big pink suitcase Seth hated from the very first moment.

As if it wasn't embarrassment enough to be dependent from a pair of crutches with a huge cast around your leg, no, he would have to hand a Chicago taxi driver a pink suitcase. He just hoped that Summer was grateful for his effort, because if she wasn't he was going to keep the clothes that were in the suitcase. Not that he had any use for the them – Amy had nearly twice of Summer's height – but he just felt like taking revenge.

When the last call for his flight had been made, Seth accepted the hugs and nice words from all of his family members. Lilly was the first one to jump into his arms… or better, to jump on his crutches and made him almost fall. When the little girl realized that her brother had almost stumbled, she giggled. "Sorry." She said and smiled innocently. "I told you you're funny."

"Very funny, Lil. You made me almost fall!"

Lilly waved and shrugged. "Don't be a baby, Seth." She replied and everyone started to laugh. Seth shook his head and proceeded to hug his father and Ryan before he finally arrived at his mother who smiled.

Seth frowned when he saw some tears glistening in his mother's eyes and he tilted his head. "Everything okay?" he asked and laid a comforting hand on his mother's shoulder.

Kirsten swallowed and nodded and placed a hand on Seth's face. "Time just flies when you're here."

Seth smiled and nodded too. "I know." He leant forward to hug his mother and was surprised when he felt how tight Kirsten was clinging on to him. "Mom? Can you promise me something?" he asked and Kirsten nodded.

"Whatever you want, sweetie."

"Whatever problem you have with grandpa… solve it. You seemed quite unhappy this weekend." Seth whispered into Kirsten's ear, and if the two of them weren't still in a hug Seth would have been able to see how hard his mother was fighting tears right now.

Kirsten cleared her throat and shoved her son away, forcing a smile. "Of course, sweetie. We'll be fine."

Seth nodded and smiled back, trying hard to hide his worry about his mother's strange behavior. "So will I."

"Hey Seth, say hi to Amy and Summer from us. And tell the girls next time we wanna see them too!" Sandy said and patted his son on the back, and Seth nodded. He was surprised how long his family had achieved to actually not talk about Summer, but now, in the minute he left them, the subject had been brought up eventually. Seth bet that his father might have had exploded if he hadn't mentioned Summer once.

"Sure Dad, I'll say hi."

The family went quiet when a woman's voice told all passengers that this was officially the last call to get the flight and Seth took a few steps back and waved. "I'll call you when I'm home." He said and proceeded to the gate to board the plane, his family waving and shouting their goodbyes after him.

* * *

"Amy? I'm home!"

Seth kicked the door of his apartment open with one of his crutches and peeked inside to find the apartment all dark and empty. Well, empty in like, without any person in it, and he sighed. Schlepping the two suitcases inside, he switched the lights on and went into the living room, falling down on the couch. In front of him on the couch table he found a small note from Amy that said that she went out with some of her friends from her Spanish class. It also told him not to worry or stay up because it could get very late.

Seth shook his head and sighed. That was nice. He had just come back from his trip to California and Amy didn't even bother to ask how the trip was or if he had some news or stuff like that. AND she didn't even care how he had managed to get off the plane or how he had picked up his suitcases from the luggage carousel and had carried them into a taxi with a cast and two crutches. No, it was important that she had her fun.

Rubbing his eyes, Seth decided not to waste his energy to be angry or disappointed by Amy and he yawned. After the flight, his head had finally ended to try to process all of the events of the past 48 hours, and he felt himself drifting off into a very comfortable sleep. Just when he was about to drift off completely, the urging ringing of the phone made him jump a little, and his heart started to race from the shock of being woken up again.

He fumbled for the telephone that sat on a small table next to the couch and mumbled something in it that was supposed to sound like hello or something like that.

"Seth?"

"Hey Lil. How are ya?" Seth said and smiled when he heard his sister's tiny voice at the other end of the line.

"Not so good." Lilly said and sniffed, a combination that let all of Seth's alarm systems come to life.

"What's wrong, little one?" he asked.

"Mommy and Daddy are mad at each other." Lilly replied in a whiny voice.

Seth frowned and leant his head onto the back of the couch, closing his eyes. From what he had seen during his visit on the weekend of Lilly's birthday these news didn't surprise him. "Do you know what happened?"

"Nah. I had to go play in my room."

"I'm sure it's nothing bad, pumpkin-head. You know, when you and me are in a fight Mom and Dad always leave the room."

The other end of the line was dead silent after Seth's bad attempt to cheer his sister up. He opened his eyes again and frowned. "Lilly?"

A sniff. "Ya?"

The sniffing thing drove Seth almost insane. He hated it to see his little sister hurt, no matter what a big pain in the ass she could be sometimes. "Don't cry. I promise you they'll be nice to each other very soon."

"Ryan said that too." Lilly replied, her voice still teary.

Seth smiled a little and nodded to himself. Obviously Ryan had the same problem than him. They both liked being overprotective with their little sister. "See? Your two brothers tell you everything's fine. So you have to believe us." He said and smirked.

"Ya but it's really really bad today. And I saw Mommy cry."

Seth let out a deep sigh. From the very first moment he had seen his mother during his visit to California he knew that something had been wrong – it obviously still was. And now Lilly had seen her crying... Seth didn't remember the last time he had seen his mother cry. She hadn't even cried at his grandmother's funeral because she had been heavily medicated back then to better cope with the shock of losing her mother.

"Seth?"

"Hm? Yeah, I'm here." He replied and sighed again. "Listen pumpkin-head, if it's really something bad, Mom and Dad will tell you. I know that they will. Cuz they would never keep anything important from us. Okay?"

Another sniff. "Okay."

Seth smiled a little. "Maybe they just sent you to your room to clean it up. You have to admit that you have quite a mess in there."

"I DON'T!" Lilly answered, shocked by this – to her – untrue statement of her brother.

"Yeah well, if you say so." Seth replied and closed his eyes. "Listen, Lilly, it's really late here in Chicago and I want to sleep. Are you gonna be okay?"

Lilly sniffed once again. "Uh-huh." Her voice trembled and Seth's heart felt like breaking. Whatever was going on over there in Newport, he hated his parents for making Lilly witness that something was wrong. You just didn't do that to a six-year-old girl.

He sighed. Well, you didn't do that to a 22-year-old half-grown up either.

"You can call me again tomorrow, if you want to. Or I'll call you?" he suggested and reached over to the nightstand for his painkillers. After a whole weekend of moving around and being pressed between the two seats of an airplane his leg felt like falling off.

"Oki." Lilly replied and sniffed once again.

"Good. So please don't cry anymore, okay? You've done nothing wrong, and I'm sure that whatever it was why Mom and Dad sent you to your room was nothing serious. So will you be happy for me again?" Seth asked and smiled to himself.

"Yes." Lilly replied. "For you."

"Good girl. I wish you a goodnight. And I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Promise?"

Seth smiled again. "Promise. Telephone pinky swear."

Lilly giggled a little. This was good. To hear his sister laughing again. "Goodnight, Seth. Oh and say goodnight to Summer, too!"

Before Seth could reply, Lilly had hung up on him. He stared at the receiver in his hand and frowned at Lilly's last comment.

His sister knew that he wasn't with Summer anymore, right? He had told her only a few hours ago, when he had put her into bed. She couldn't possibly have forgotten about that, could she?

The longer he thought about the two women in his life the more Seth felt the urge to talk to someone about his concern that Lilly and her phone call had caused him, and since his girlfriend was busy partying there was only one person he felt like talking to now.

So Seth took one of the pain killers, swallowed it down with some of the water that was on his night stand and switched his laptop open, logging into the chatting program.

And just like he had predicted it, she was there.

* * *

_Cpt. Oats_: "Hey, Sleepy Eye! Wake up I need to talk!"

A shrill "pling" woke Summer up from her dreams and she smiled to herself and rubbed her eyes, yawning during the process.

_Princess Sparkle_: „Cohen, what do you want from me? It's the middle of the night!"

She couldn't help but to tease him like that. She had told him before that she would be online, waiting for him to come when he arrived from California, and there she was. She just didn't want him to think that her life sucked that much that the only thing that filled out her spare time was to wait for him to come online and chat with her.

_Cpt. Oats_: „Come on, I know you've been waiting for me! For what other reason would you stay up so long?"

_Princess Sparkle_: „I wasn't planning on it. I just fell asleep in front of the screen."

Self-defence just needed to be.

_Cpt. Oats_: "Right. I could as well kid myself here."

_Princess Sparkle_: "Go ahead."

_Cpt. Oats_: "Haha. So... do you have a minute?"

_Princess Sparkle_: "Now that you've woken me... yeah."

The chat screen fell silent for a while and Summer wondered if it was Seth who had been falling asleep in front of the computer screen this time. Just as she was about to ask what was wrong, Seth's answer appeared on her screen.

_Cpt. Oats_: "So... Lilly called me."

_Princess Sparkle_: "Aww that little cutie-pie. She must miss you a lot since you've arrived here only a few hours ago."

_Cpt. Oats_: "She's not a cutie-pie. She's a spoiled brat."

_Princess Sparkle_: "Just like her brother."

_Cpt. Oats_: "Summer, please."

At that serious comment, Summer knew that something was wrong. It wasn't at all like Seth to not joke about something. After all, Seth was a Cohen – and if Summer had learned something over the years, it was that Cohens made jokes at every possibility that was given – even if they were not matching for the situation.

_Princess Sparkle_: "Cohen? Are you still there?"

_Cpt. Oats_: "Yes."

_Princess Sparkle_: "Well, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."

_Cpt. Oats_: "Lilly cried."

_Princess Sparkle_: "So? She's six years old, she's a girl – that's what we do."

_Cpt. Oats_: "Yeah but she like... _really_ cried."

Summer hesitated a little before typing her answer into the screen.

_Princess Sparkle_: "What happened?"

_Cpt. Oats_: "Mom and Dad had a fight. And they sent her to her room."

_Princess Sparkle_: "Well, but that's normal. Everybody fights. And they didn't want her to witness it, so they sent her upstairs."

It took Seth some time to type his answer back, just as if it took him some overcoming to say what he was about to say.

_Cpt. Oats_: "She said she saw Mom crying."

_Princess Sparkle_: "Cohen, she's a six year old girl. She might be overreacting."

_Cpt. Oats_: "You think?"

_Princess Sparkle_: "I don't know, I'm not a visionary. But children over-dramatize everything. Actually, when I was younger and my Dad took my favorite Barbie away I thought I was just about to die."

_Cpt. Oats_: "Please tell me you did not pretend to be dead to get the freakin' Barbie back."

_Princess Sparkle_: "You bet I did! I looked at my father, told him if I didn't get my Barbie back in like right now I might die. And I was crawling up on the floor right in front of him... you know, for emphasize."

_Cpt. Oats_: "Did you get the Barbie back?"

Pause.

Pause.

Pause.

He didn't really need to know that her plan back then had sucked. Big time.

_Cpt. Oats_: "Summer?"

_Princess Sparkle_: "Hm?"

_Cpt. Oats_: "Did you get the Barbie back?"

_Princess Sparkle_: "Um, no. And unfortunately, I didn't die either. I figured out pretty soon that my plan sucked."

Summer smiled to herself when she remembered it and waited for Seth to make some stupid and not-funny comment about her, but there was no answer from Seth's line.

_Princess Sparkle_: "Cohen?"

_Cpt. Oats_: "Yeah."

_Princess Sparkle_: "Have you talked to any of your parents?"

_Cpt. Oats_: "No."

Wow, whatever it was that was bothering Seth, it had to be big. Seth was the rambling king – and that didn't concern only the real talking, he also rambled when they were chatting, Summer was convinced that he even rambled in his thoughts.

_Princess Sparkle_: "Yeaaah, this is what I call conversation."

_Cpt. Oats_: "I'm sorry, I'm just confused."

_Princess Sparkle_: "So you really think that something major happened that made Lilly so upset?"

_Cpt. Oats_: "Sort of. You know her, Summer, and you know that she never cries."

_Princess Sparkle_: "That is so not true."

_Cpt. Oats_: "Okay, she cries all the time, when she doesn't get what she wants or whatever. But this time it seemed really different."

Summer couldn't help but feeling concerned about what Seth was telling her. He had, after all, sent her a short message that something weird was going on between his parents and his grandfather. And now Lilly had found Kirsten crying... maybe there really were problems in the Cohen family.

_Princess Sparkle_: "Well, it's so good that I'm your friend. I have a master plan."

_Cpt. Oats_: "What?"

_Princess Sparkle_: "Call your parents and talk to them."

_Cpt. Oats_: "Wow. You are so good."

Summer stuck out her tongue to the computer screen. There he was back again, sarcastic and ironic as a Cohen should be.

_Princess Sparkle_: "You want my advice or not? I'm tired and already in bed, all I have to do is close the laptop and you're gone."

_Cpt. Oats_: "I'm sorry, I do want your advice. That's why I asked you to stay up."

_Princess Sparkle_: "What about Amy?"

_Cpt. Oats_: "Gone out partying. What about Craig?"

Yeah, go figure. Summer thought. This was so typically Amy – going out partying with her so-called friends when her boyfriend had just come home from a weekend in California, worried about how things were going between his parents and grandfather.

_Princess Sparkle_: "Business travel. You know that, Cohen."

_Cpt. Oats_: "Right. Forgot."

Summer smiled.

_Princess Sparkle_: "I'm all alone. Girl pajamas party."

_Cpt. Oats_: "Hey, can I join?"

_Princess Sparkle_: "Cohen, _girl_ pajamas party... but wait... I guess that works for you."

Now Summer felt proud of herself.

_Cpt. Oats_: "Haha. Again, so funny. So you think my parents would tell me if something was wrong?"

_Princess Sparkle_: "Of course they wouldn't. You need to be subtle. Ask hidden questions and stuff like that."

After a longer pause Seth replied, and Summer had to laugh.

_Cpt. Oats_: "I'm never gonna find out."

_Princess Sparkle_: "Not if you're already scared only thinking about it."

_Cpt. Oats_: "I'm so tired. I gotta go to bed."

_Princess Sparkle_: "Yeah, me too."

_Cpt. Oats_: "I thought you were already in bed?"

_Princess Sparkle_: "I need to shut you off before I can sleep."

_Cpt. Oats_: "I won't interfere. Can we talk tomorrow?"

_Princess Sparkle_: "Sure, I have classes until four thirty. So say around five in the coffee shop?"

Things would look better after a good dash of sleep.

_Cpt. Oats_: "Deal. Night."

_Princess Sparkle_: "Night. Cohen?"

_Cpt. Oats_: "Yeah?"

_Princess Sparkle_: "Don't worry so much. It's probably nothing. Remember, Lilly's-"

_Cpt. Oats_: "Only six years old, I know. What does a man have to do to get some sleep here?"

Sticking out her tongue in the direction of the computer screen again, Summer typed:

_Princess Sparkle_: "I'm shutting up, don't panic. I was gonna say sleep well, but after this: wish you lots a nightmares."

_Cpt. Oats_: "Yeah you too. Have a bad night."

_Princess Sparkle_: "I will."

_Cpt. Oats_: "Night."

_Princess Sparkle_: "Night."

_Cpt. Oats has logged off._

Summer sighed and logged out of her chatting program as well, closing the computer and laying it onto the ground. She turned off the lights and covered herself with the soft blankets, forcing herself to stay awake and think about the possibilities that could have created the weird tension between the Cohen adults – and that had made Kirsten even cry.

Well, she had an assumption, since she was very familiar with the situation. That was at least what she thought.

But before her mind could go on to find some other reasons Summer had already drifted off into a deep sleep.

* * *

_Next chapter: Truth Hurts_


	6. Truth Hurts

_A/N: So, here's another update with the longest chapter in the story so far, with a lot lot lot of stuff happening! I won't be able to update for a week since I'm leaving for a vacation so I thought I'd give you a long chapter to read ;)_

_A/N: Please review when you read, even if it's just a single sentence. I was kind of disappointed that I only got five reviews on the last chapter (but a huuuuge thanks to those who reviewed!), since this story is a lot of work, and I'd really like to know what you guys think of it._

_But now on with the chapter!_

**Truth Hurts **

A few days later, Seth still hadn't talked to his parents, a fact that made especially Summer creep out more and more. Everyday they saw each other in class she would go and ask him, and if Seth said he hadn't called them yet she would slap him and pretend to be mad at him. But these weren't new things to Seth, Summer was always keen on slapping and hitting people if they didn't do what she wanted, so Seth was kind of used to it.

One day, after having done some research on their report, Seth and Summer met with Chris in his diner for lunch to celebrate that Seth's cast had officially been moved off and replaced by a splint. The three friends were sitting around one of the round tables, having some chili fries and milkshakes, just like during their "old" days back in Newport, and Chris was constantly rambling about a new guy he had seen somewhere in a grocery store.

Summer was giggling after every of Chris' sentences, a thing that made Seth more and more nervous. Chris was funny, but Summer slightly exaggerated with her constant laughing and giggling, and it started to drive Seth crazy.

"I swear he has the bluest eyes you've EVER seen! The Hawaiian sea is ugly in comparison to the blue of this guy's eyes!" Chris sung, and as a response, Summer giggled. "You're so cute when you're all excited." She said and smiled.

Seth raised an eyebrow and shook his head, catching a slap from Summer on his shoulder when she saw his reaction.

"Cohen! What's your problem? You've been grumpy all day!" she exclaimed and crossed her arms in front of her chest, giving him an expecting look.

Seth shrugged. "Nothing, just… do you have to giggle at EVERYTHING Chris tells you?"

Summer looked confused but shrugged. "He's funny. Why shouldn't I? Jealous, Cohen?"

Seth closed his eyes and sighed. He nervously glanced at his watch and shook his head. "No, not jealous, just pissed."

Summer and Chris looked at each other and Summer tilted her head and looked at Seth. "Why? What's wrong?"

Seth looked first at Summer, then at Chris and sighed again. "My mom said she's gonna call me today, to tell me what was wrong." He explained and stared down on his plate that was still half full with fries.

"I'm sure it's nothing bad." Chris said in an attempt to cheer Seth up a little, and Seth gave him a weak smile.

"Yeah, but I don't know… all the time my mom told me that nothing was wrong, and then I get this text message from her that she wants to tell me why she's been in such a strange mood all weekend."

"So what? That's good, right? I mean at least she wants to tell you." Summer said and placed a hand on Seth's arm. Seth felt himself relaxing a bit and nodded. "I guess. I'm sorry if I ruin the mood or something."

Chris shook his head. "You're not ruining the mood! We're your friends, we listen to you and help you… because we care about you." He said and Seth made a face. "Why does everything you say sound like it's been taken out of a poetry book?"

Chris shrugged and blushed. "I'm hopelessly romantic." He said and grinned.

Just when Seth's bad mood was about to disappear completely, the cell phone in his jeans pocket started to ring and he jumped a little. He pulled it out and saw that it was his mother who was calling. "It's time." He said and stood up, heading for the door to take the call outside.

Summer bit her lip as she watched Seth walking away and she sighed. She could still see him through the glass windows and she was desperately trying to read his face or to interpret his reactions to find out what was wrong with the Cohen family.

Suddenly, Chris' voice made her focus her attention back to her food. "He's gonna be fine." He said and smiled, and Summer sighed, looking back over her shoulder to check on Seth who now had turned his back to her.

"I know." She replied and pouted. "It's just… he's never been good at dealing with things all by himself."

Chris smiled. "He doesn't have to deal with things all by himself. He has us. We can help him. So… stop worrying about him, he'll be back in a few minutes and he'll tell us what happened." He reached over the table to take one of Summer's hands. "Let's talk about you, honey."

Summer raised her eyebrows. "Me?"

"You." Chris nodded. "When's Craig gonna be home again?"

Summer shrugged and took a sip from her milkshake. "Don't know. You never know with him, actually. Last time I checked it was in three weeks."

Chris hesitated and took his hand back, kneading them in his lap. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure what's up?"

"Do you love Craig? Or are you just with him because you're afraid to change your life as it is right now?"

Summer almost suffocated from her milkshake when Chris had finished his question, and she stared at him with her eyes wide open.

"Of course I love him." She answered as if it was the most normal thing in the world, and Chris shrugged.

"Just wanted to ask."

Summer continued staring at Chris as if he was insane and she shook her head to try to process what this question that had come all out of the blue meant. She didn't really have the chance to come to a conclusion since a very devastated looking Seth came back into the diner and grabbed his coat that was laying next to her.

He shot a quick glance at Summer and shrugged. "I'm going home." He announced and started to walk away without looking back. Summer threw a quick glance at Chris and shrugged apologetically, grabbing her purse and sweater vest and hurrying after Seth.

"Seth wait!" she yelled and Seth stopped in the middle of the street, sighing.

"Summer, I wanna be-"

"Alone, yeah yeah, you always wanna be." She linked her arm through his and gave him an encouraging smile. "But honestly, I don't care."

Seth sighed and started to walk again, slower this time so Summer could keep up with him.

Summer looked up into Seth's face and tried to read something out of it, but when Seth didn't want anybody to know what was going on with him, nobody would find out, and so she decided to come straight to the point.

"So what's wrong? Your granddad going to jail? The Newport Group going bankrupt? Julie Cooper marrying your dad?" she asked and smiled.

Seth's face didn't change and Summer forced him to stop. "Seth." She said and looked at him worriedly. "What's wrong?"

Seth unlinked his and Summer's arms and shook his head. He took a few steps back and sighed. "My grandpa… has cancer. Less than two months to live." He said and sighed again. "And my mother chose to not tell me because she thought I couldn't take it."

Summer looked down on the floor and immediately felt bad for Seth. "I'm sorry." She said sincerely and looked up again. "They should've told you earlier."

Seth nodded and pressed his lips together. "Yes, they should. And they should stop treating me like a child." He replied and broke off into a walk again. Summer started to run after him and tried desperately to stop him. It was incredible how fast this guy was even with a splint on his leg that should have kept him from walking too fast. "Seth, come on! Let's talk about it! I'm gonna listen to you!"

Seth turned around and shook his head. "Summer, you know me." He said, and Summer nodded, smiling a little. "Good. Then you should know that I really need to be alone right now."

Ouch. That hurt. He didn't want to talk to her, and Summer didn't know why, but that had hurt her. But despite that strange feeling in her stomach she plastered a smile on her lips and nodded. "Okay." She said and sighed. "But you know that I'll always be there when you wanna talk."

Seth nodded and stared at the floor. "I know." He said and turned around, heading to god knew where.

All that Summer could do right now was to watch him leaving, her heart torn to pieces because she had to watch him suffer like that.

* * *

Half an hour later, when Summer unlocked the door to hers and Craig's apartment she almost suffered from a heart attack when Craig jumped in front of her, wearing a stupid grin. He held out a box with a big silver bow on it and winked.

"Hey baby, I'm home!" he chimed and Summer raised an eyebrow.

"I can see that, I'm not blind." She replied and took off her coat, hanging it on the garderobe that was right next to the door. "What are you doing here anyways? Just a few days ago you said you needed to stay for three weeks."

Craig's smile fell a little and he tilted his head as if he wanted to figure out what was wrong with his girlfriend. "The meeting was cancelled, and I go to get home sooner. I thought you would be a little happier about that." He said, and Summer lowered her gaze, hugging him. "I'm sorry baby." She whispered and clung as tightly to Craig as she could, just as if she wanted to burden someone else with the heavy information Seth had just received. After a while, Summer broke loose from the hug and forced a tiny smile. "I... Seth, actually, just got some really bad news."

Craig smiled sympathetically and led Summer over to the dark red living room couch, placing her present next to him on a pillow. Summer curled up on the couch and crawled into Craig's arms, sighing.

"What happened?" he asked.

"His parents... kinda didn't tell him until today that his grandfather's gonna die soon. He has cancer."

"Oh." Craig pulled Summer closer and kissed the top of her head. "That is some bad news."

"Yeah." Summer pouted a little and caught herself as her thoughts wandered off to Seth again, wondering what he was doing at the moment. Being alone usually contained sitting in front of his playstation, cursing to the monsters or whatever those were on the screen to calm down. The other Seth Cohen way of being alone meant crawling under his bed covers and listening to sad music. Summer wondered which of those things he was doing at the moment.

"Maybe I have something that'll cheer you up a bit." Craig said and smiled a little, reaching out for the present that was still sitting next to him on the couch. Summer looked up a bit and smiled as well. From the way the present was looking – better said, how terribly it was wrapped – she could tell that Craig had wrapped it himself, and she found it incredibly cute.

"Any present for me cheers me up." She said and sat up a bit and took the present on her lap. "You wrapped that really... nice."

Craig raised his eyebrows. "What makes you think I wrapped it?" he asked and grinned.

Summer shook her head and looked at the present, giggling. "Because..." she pointed to one side of the box, "it looks... well... just look at it!"

Craig pretended to be offended and tickled her in her sides for revenge, and Summer started to scream. She hated it to be tickled.

"Craig nooooo!" Unfortunately, Craig was a lot stronger than Summer, and so he didn't stop just because she told him to. As Summer tried to fight Craig off, she squirmed in his lap, still giggling and screaming. Suddenly, in the middle of the tickling attack, they heard a loud rattle, and Craig stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that the present had fallen to the floor, and he jumped down from the couch to grab it and shake it to check if it was broken or not.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, baby." Summer said and bit her lip when she saw the disappointed look on Craig's face as he shook the box and handed it to her.

"This doesn't sound good." He said and sighed. "Open it."

Summer pouted a little as she opened the box, still hoping that she hadn't broken whatever was inside of it.

She slowly lifted the top of the box and winced a little when she saw the millions of sherds in it, and she gave Craig one of her puppy dog looks she had learned from Seth.

Craig sat on his knees and peeked into the box, sighing. "This... isn't supposed to look like that." He said and Summer couldn't help but giggle. She covered Craig's face in her hands and kissed him tenderly.

"You think this is funny?" Craig asked and tried to put on an extra-hurt look which made Summer giggle even more.

"No, I think you're cute." She said. "With your 'this isn't supposed to look like that' stuff. I mean it's obviously broken – whatever it was – I pretty much guessed it wasn't supposed to look like that."

Craig made a face towards Summer and started to laugh as well. He carefully took one of the sherds out of the box and held it in front of her face. "This, my darling, was supposed to be a really beautiful vase from a very famous glassblowing factory in Seattle. And it would have looked so much better..." he stood up and disappeared into the kitchen for a few seconds, leaving Summer smiling sweetly on the couch.

"... with this." When Craig returned, he held a huge bouquet of red roses in his hands, grinning broadly.

Summer's heart filled with warmth and she stood up to take the flowers. She smelled them and smiled even broader, kissing Craig again.

"I love them, baby, thanks so much." She said and looked over to the box that was still standing in front of the couch. "And I love the vase... or... what's left of it."

Craig grinned and stroked a strand of Summer's hair behind her ear. "I told you it would make you happy. Although I think you would have been a little happier if the vase wasn't broken."

"Hey, it's your fault, you tickled me, and I told you to stop!" Summer defended herself and smelled the roses once again.

Craig pretended to be shocked and shook his head. "Noooo way, honey. If you hadn't resisted my tickle-attack, the vase would still be alive."

Narrowing her eyes, Summer took a step towards Craig. "You are mean."

Craig lifted his hands again, preparing himself for another round of tickling Summer. "You love it."

And before Summer could react, Craig's hands were all over her.

* * *

Almost two days had passed by, and Summer and Seth hadn't spoken to each other since he had run away at the diner and had requested his special alone-time. Summer had written him six or seven emails in the past few days, and nearly three times as many text messages on his cell phone, but he returned neither of them, and Summer really started to worry a little. It was just so unusual of Seth Cohen to not want to talk about one of his problems.

When Summer woke up on Friday morning, she decided to give Seth a call if he hadn't emailed or text messaged her until then. She stretched and yawned, doing her best to push the thoughts of Seth and if he might be okay aside. She smiled when she heard Craig turning the shower on, and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her gaze locked with a picture that was on Craig's nightstand, a photo of Craig and her that had been taken at her birthday party, when she had turned 21. She wore a very silly looking party hat Craig had bought for all the party guests and Craig had an arm around her waist, smiling happily.

Shaking her head, Summer yawned and opened a drawer of her nightstand, smiling contently when she saw that the present she had gotten for Craig for their anniversary was still there. It was a not very cheap pen set – Craig used pens all the time to scribble down appointments or things like that, and Summer knew that with a pen set as a present for Craig you were never wrong.

She still couldn't believe that Craig and her had been together for almost three years now. It felt like yesterday that Craig had walked into her life – and into her heart. When she heard Craig humming to himself under the shower Summer giggled and went over to the bathroom door, slightly opening and peeking into it. Steam came flying into her direction and she closed the door again, shaking her head. Craig had always been the warm-shower-type of guy but the amount of steam the shower produced when he was under it was ridiculous.

Summer stifled another yawn and went back to her bed, crawling under the covers. She took a glance at her nightstand clock and saw that it was only seven thirty, which meant that she had another two hours until she needed to go to class today. In her mind, Summer pictured what Craig and her could do in that time to celebrate their anniversary, wondering at the same time what present Craig could possibly have gotten her.

All of a sudden and out of nowhere, Seth popped back into Summer's mind and she wondered how he was doing right now, if he was asleep, if he was eating, if he was getting ready for the day... Summer shot a quick glance to the bathroom door and as she heard that the water in the shower was still running, she hopped out from under the covers again and tapped into the living room, her arms tightly wrapped around her body.

The apartment was always cold in the mornings, and cold was something Summer hated. Well, she was a child of Southern California, so she wasn't really made for temperatures that dropped below the DEGREES level. Switching her laptop on, Summer went over to the couch to grab her favorite flanel blanket and settled down in front of the computer, waiting until the system had started completely.

She logged into her email program and smiled brightly when she saw that she had received an email from Seth with the subject "I'm Still Alive". At least the little fun in the title meant that he was okay... or that he had dealt with his situation somehow.

Summer opened the email and started to read.

_Hey you over there,_

_I'm really sorry that I didn't call you or returned your emails and messages earlier, but... I'm actually searching for an excuse, but I really can't find one. There are no apologies, I should've at least let you know how I am/was. You're my best friend and you deserve to know. _

_Well, anyways, my mom and I had some reeaaally long and exhausting discussions on the phone the past few days, and we pretty much summarized why she didn't tell me and why I thought it was wrong and all that crappy shit. You know how it goes, I guess. Typical parent-child thing. _

_I met Jenny the other day in the grocery store and she told me Craig's back. Happy for you, Roberts. But despite all the sex you're going to have please don't forget about the report we have to do. Serious and important stuff, you know. Don't wanna ruin my grade any further. Don't roll your eyes now. I know my English grade can't get any lower, but hell, I don't care._

_So I don't really know why I write all that shit, but I guess I just wanted you to know that I'm fine. Well, not fine, but fine. My mom said that my gramps said he didn't want me to fly back home to visit him or something. He plans on still being there when I visit next time. Dude, how that sounds. "He plans on still being there"... if I think about it, maybe I'm not really okay, but yeah... I'll try to freaking live with it, as Amy would say. _

_Thanks for caring so much for me. I'll try and do some report stuff now. My brain needs something to do (yes, Roberts, even my brain works at times!)._

_See you soon, Roberts._

_Love, Cohen._

After she had read the email, Summer smiled and sighed happily, leaning back in her chair and staring at the words Seth had sent her. As much as she hated it that Seth had invented "Roberts" as her new nickname just because she called him "Cohen" all the time, as much she loved it that he appreciated her friendship. And that he called her his best friend. And that he had sent her his love.

Just then the bathroom door was banged and Summer jumped a little in her seat and stood up, walking towards the bedroom again, still the happy smile on her face. When she spotted Craig putting on his socks while he was sitting on her bedside she giggled. He always looked like a little boy when he put his socks on, with his head bowed deep and his blonde hair falling in front of his face, framing the handsome facial features.

As if he sensed her presence, Craig looked up and smiled. "Good morning my darling." He sung and went over to her to place a gentle kiss on her cheek,

"Good morning." Summer replied and returnedthe kiss. "You're in a good mood."

Craig nodded and cupped Summer's face in his hands. "Yap, that I am." He said and pointed to an open suitcase that was laying on the floor in front of the wardrobe, already half-packed. "You know what?"

Summer smiled and sighed. Craig was so cute. He had really gotten them a romantic weekend for two for their anniversary. "What?" she said and moved closer to Craig, smiling at him seductively.

"I might have been sent home from Seattle, but today. I. Get. To. Go. To. Tallahassee for a conference!" Craig exclaimed and Summer felt how all the color drained from her face. "Excuse me?" she yelled and took a step back, putting her hands on her hips.

Craig laughed a little and stroked Summer's hair. "Aww, honey, it's only gonna be for five days. I'll be back sooner than you can say Tallahassee." He said.

Summer slapped Craig's hand away and blinked, not really sure what to do about the constantly raising anger inside of her. "And you need to leave today." She stated, and Craig nodded.

"I know it's over the weekend and stuff... but we had a few really great days since I got back from Seattle... they might help us to bridge the days we can't be together."

Summer shook her head angrily and stepped further away from Craig. "This might better be a joke." She mumbled, raising her eyebrows questioningly towards him. But from the bewildered look on Craig's face Summer could tell that this wasn't a joke – even better... Craig didn't even remember that today was their anniversary! She let out a bitter laugh and went over to her drawer, tossing the present box over to him.

Just before the box hit the floor, Craig grabbed it and it was only then he started to realize what Summer's bitchiness was all about. He lowered his head and shook it, closing his eyes. "I'm. An idiot." He said and sighed, looking up to Summer who sat with her arms crossed in front of her chest on the edge of the bed, trying to ignore him as best as she could.

Slowly, Craig walked over to her and sunk onto his knees, placing his hands on her knees. "Today's our anniversary."

"Nice of you to remember." Summer spat and stared into the distance instead of looking into Craig's eyes.

"Summer, I-I really don't know how to make this up to you. I'm just such a stupid fucking idiot."

Summer just shrugged. "Then don't go. Would be a start."

Craig started to massage Summer's knees and shook his head, trying desperately to somehow reach his girlfriend and take her out of her state of anger and fury over him. "Baby, I can't. I have to go. They're offering me to lead the conference."

Summer rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly. "Unbelievable." She mumbled and Craig moved closer to her.

"Summer, look. I've been working so hard to get to some point in that company where they would entrust me with higher and better duties. And now I have the chance to prove them that I can be responsible and everything... I can't tell them I can't go because it's our anniversary today."

Shoving herself out of Craig's grip, Summer stood up and headed for the door. "Well, you wouldn't need to cuz you didn't remember." She snapped.

Craig stood up and went over to her, and Summer looked away. "Darling, I'm so major sorry... I need to take that possibility-"

"You know it's great to see that your priorities are in order! But isn't it always like that? Job comes first, then my girlfriend? No wait..." Summer now yelled, gesturing around wildly with her arms. "It's job first, including fucking business meetings, then colleagues, then car and any other kinds of status symbols... and then, at the bottom end of the list, it's me – the girlfriend that's waiting three quarters of the year for you to come home. And when you come home, you fuck her a few times before leaving again. You know what? I'm sick of it."

And with that, Summer turned around and left the bedroom.

Craig shook his head, his own anger rising now, and followed his girlfriend out of the room. "You're unbelievable! I'm having this fucking job just that you can have the life you deserve! Or the life you think you deserve! Cuz now that you're an adult you can't rely on Daddy buying you everything you want anymore, so you chose the next best party that could give you the amount of money you need to afford your clearly exaggerated lifestyle!"

Before Craig could realize it, a hard slap landed across his face. Holding his cheek, he stared at Summer wide eyed and shook his head. Summer pointed to the door, her gaze as cold as ice. "Out. Now." She just said and went over to the front door to open it.

"Summer, baby, you can't throw me out of my apartment."

"Don't "baby" me you asshole! You think with your stupid nicknames everything's gonna be fine again? You know I have a real name... oh wait, you don't need to know it as long as I'm there to sleep with you whenever you choose to come home!"

Craig shook his head. "You know what? Tell your bitch-stories to the wall. I'm leaving voluntarily." He announced and went into the sleeping room, shutting his suitcase without checking if he had everything and headed for the front door without looking back.

Running after him, Summer shouted, "You know and all of this isn't as bad as I just said. The only thing that's really bad about all that shit is that you forgot our anniversary." She said and slammed the door shut in front of Craig's face, kicking her foot against the now closed door.

"Ouch! Fuck it." She cursed and headed for the bathroom as fast as she could. The fury inside of her was almost unbearable, and she was afraid that she might destroy half of the apartment interior if she didn't force herself to calm down now. She really hoped that a long soaking bath would help.

* * *

The decision had been made. No more mourning around over his family issues for today. He deserved to be in a good mood at least once a week, and Seth had decided that today was the day to forget about all the troubles and focus on the things that were important in life – reports about the use of stylistic devices in Shakespeare's dramas.

And Amy would be in class all day, so the time was perfect to do something for his grades – or at least to do something that Summer would like.

Sitting down in front of his computer, Seth scanned his working environment. The desk looked like a complete mess, and when Seth thought about it objectively, he sometimes really wondered how he managed to study for good grades in this messy surroundings.

He looked down on the notepad that was laying in front of him, unfortunately finding out that it was still almost empty. Seth sighed and wondered how far Summer had already prepared her part of the report, and he smiled a little when he realized that she had it probably already finished.

That was one of the things that had changed since they had started college – Summer was now the diligent one, and Seth didn't care as much about his grades as he should – but they were still acceptable to his parents, and even good to him.

A quick glance at the computer clock told Seth that he had been browsing the internet to find something about the topic of their report for almost one and a half hours, and he decided to take a break. Studying couldn't be rushed – otherwise your brain might have been overtaxed from it.

So Seth spun around in his desk chair and jumped up, heading for the kitchen to brew himself some coffee. A few minutes later he returned with a cup and a box of Oreo's, ready to start another round of internet studying. When he sat down he stuffed two Oreo's at once in his mouth and took a sip from his coffee for better chewing.

He hit the space key to stop the "Superman and other comic heroes" screensaver and smiled when he saw that during his absence, he had received a telegram from Summer.

_Princess Sparkle_: I'm **so** pissed.

Seth smiled, his cheeks still full with cookies and coffee, and pulled his keyboard closer to him.

_Cpt. Oats_: Hello to you too, Summer. What a wonderful day, huh?

_Princess Sparkle_: Shut up, Cohen. I said I'm so pissed. Now aren't you gonna ask me why?

Seth smiled some more and swallowed the last bits of Oreo's while typing his reply.

_Cpt. Oats_: And here I thought _I_ was the self-centered one.

He leant back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head, obviously very proud of teasing her, as usual. But instead of a bitchy reply, he got no answer at all. So he took that as a sign that whatever it was that had made her pissed must have been huge, and he decided to give in and ask her what bothered her.

_Cpt. Oats_: Okay Summer. What's wrong?

_Princess Sparkle_: Well, first of all things, you're making fun of me. And second of all, it's Craig, my so-called boyfriend.

Seth raised his eyebrows. Her _so-called_ boyfriend?

_Cpt. Oats_: Do I sense trouble in paradise?

_Princess Sparkle_: Okay, that's it. Just forget about it. I'm off.

Seth rolled his eyes and decided to give Summer a call later that day. If she wanted to log off he wouldn't stop her, that would at least give him some more time to do some research for their English report. Today was his sorrow free day. No problems allowed.

Grabbing another cookie, Seth stared at his buddy list and waited for Summer to go offline, just as she had announced. After exactly three minutes and four more Oreo's later Summer still hadn't logged off, and Seth decided to start their conversation again.

_Cpt. Oats_: I thought you wanted to go offline?

_Princess Sparkle_: What for? There's not much a girl can do when she's all alone.

Seth raised a finger to himself. Aaah, they were nearing the topic of the discussion again. But since he had noticed that Summer wasn't really in a good mood, he decided to get straight to the point this time.

_Cpt. Oats_: What happened with Craig?

_Princess Sparkle_: He's not here.

Seth shook his head. That was really very helpful.

_Cpt. Oats_: Summer, you kinda need to give me some more information. I mean I can't sense what happened.

_Princess Sparkle_: There's this stupid conference in Tallahassee he needs to attend (for five days!) and he ditched me – on our anniversary. Well, he was so fucking excited about this conference that he even forgot that today's our anniversary. So we got in this huge fight about me being jealous of his job and him always abandoning me and he just left... and since that, I'm waiting for him to call and apologize.

Seth rolled his lips inward and immediately felt sorry for Summer. Even _he_ remembered Summer's and Craig's anniversary, and he really wondered how Craig could have forgotten about it.

_Cpt. Oats_: Summer, I'm really sorry about that.

_Princess Sparkle_: Thanks. It's not your fault of course but still... I figured you were the only one who understands me…

Seth smiled at that sweet comment and nodded to himself.

_Cpt. Oats_: I understand you. Boy, I would be so pissed if Amy forgot our anniversary... and he even ditched you for his job, I can't believe it. You know...

Seth paused and tried to find the right words for what he was about to say. Obviously his thinking took too long for Summer.

_Princess Sparkle_: What?

_Cpt. Oats_: If he doesn't realize how lucky he is to be with you, he doesn't deserve you.

If Summer had a webcam and Seth would have been able to see her face he would have been very content with himself at that moment. But since the webcam didn't exist, he unfortunately missed the broad grin that had spread over Summer's face right after she had read his last reply.

_Princess Sp_arkle: You're so cute. kiss on the cheek

Seth wore a broad grin when he read the reply, and he could even feel his face reddening a little. His hands went up to his cheeks and he looked quite ashamed as he realized that he had been flattered so heavily by Summer's comment.

_Cpt: Oats_: Thank God that Amy's not around.

_Princess Sparkle_: Why?

Seth grinned.

_Cpt. Oats_: Cuz you embarrassedme.

_Princess Sparkle_: Cohen, that's just sad.

_Cpt. Oats_: What?

_Princess Sparkle_: You're flattered by that lame comment? I just wonder how boring your love life must be.

Seth stuck out his tongue, disappointed that she couldn't see it.

_Cpt. Oats_: Well, at least my girlfriend's still around.

_Princess Sparkle_: Shut up, jackass. Hold on, I gotta pee. Be back in a sec.

Seth laughed and shook his head, stretching in his desk chair. His gaze fell on the notepad that was laying in front of him, still not really filled with information, and he whined a little when he remembered how much work still lay ahead of him. He opened one of the homepages he had marked before chatting with Summer to go on with his research, but as soon as he read a single sentence that had to do with "Hamlet" and the stylistic devices in it his mind wandered off to... nothing special, in fact, it just wandered off. The sound of a telegram made his thoughts come back.

_Princess Sparkle_: Finished peeing.

_Cpt. Oats_: Was it nice?

_Princess Sparkle_: Oh yeah, it was a real blast. I wish you could have been there to witness it.

Seth laughed out loud and shook his head. She could be so funny and mean at the same time, it was amazing. That was one of those things he loved... _liked_ so much about her – her unique sense of humor. No matter how bad his current mood was, it usually took her less than five words to cheer him up again. It had always been that way, but when they had been dating, Seth had always tried to be the funny one... and over the years Summer had taken over that part. Yeah, he had taught her well...

_Princess Sparkle_: Still alive?

_Cpt. Oats_: Yup. I've just been thinking.

_Princess Sparkle_: What about?

Seth shook his head and smiled. Summer wasn't only the funny one, she was also extremely curious. Even more curious than he was, and that really meant something, given the fact that his mother had always called him the "mosty nosy boy in Newport" (yeah, baby language was something really fantastic).

_Cpt. Oats_: About the report.

_Princess Sparkle_: Do you wanna tell me you haven't started doing it?

_Cpt. Oats_: Of course I started! I have got a whole counts thirteen lines of information.

_Princess Sparkle_: Geez, Cohen, I'm so proud of you.

Seth raised an eyebrow.

_Cpt. Oats_: I can sense sarcasm here.

_Princess Sparkle_: You're too smart.

Seth sighed but couldn't stop smiling. He really enjoyed this little conversation they had here, and he knew that she enjoyed it as well. Anyone had to admit that they still worked great together, and everytime people saw them together they wondered why in all world they had split. And if people asked him now, Seth couldn't give a proper answer – he didn't even have a justified reason why he wasn't with Summer – except the fact that he was with Amy.

_Princess Sparkle_: Cohen, those typing breaks are creeping me out.

_Cpt. Oats_: You're so impatient, woman! Can't a man do some thinking here?

_Princess Sparkle_: Cohen, you gotta admit that thinking isn't one of your powers, so please be careful, you might get hurt in the process!

Seth narrowed his eyes and made a face toward the computer screen.

_Princess Sparkle_: I have a plan.

_Cpt. Oats_: You do? What plan?

_Princess Sparkle_: Meet me at the library in twenty minutes.

_Cpt. Oats_: Oooh, sex in the library. I had no idea that you had such fantasies, Summer.

Seth couldn't help it, but he needed to make this joke.

_Princess Sparkle_: OMG shut the hell up. Just meet me there, I'm gonna help you with your parts of the report, since you're obviously not capable of that on your own.

_Cpt. Oats_: You're too kind. Really, I don't know how to thank you.

_Princess Sparkle_: God, I mean it, SHUT UP! And no more discussions, I'll see you there in twenty minutes.

_Cpt. Oats_: Twenty minutes? Summer!

_Princess Sparkle has logged off._

Seth frowned and shook his head, logging out of his chatting program as well. It was amazing how Summer still bossed him around, even if they weren't a couple, and he wondered why he still did everything she wanted from him, without complaining.

Some might have called it friendship – Seth called it stupidity.

* * *

_Next chapter: Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own_


	7. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own

_A/N: I'm back from my vacation with a new chapter! I hope you like it! Oh and I know this story doesn't seem like a Seth and Summer story, but be patient… it will be one, in its own way… I promise! Otherwise I wouldn't have put it in the Seth/Summer category ;) So… please R&R!_

_A/N: Oh, and I know that none of you really likes Craig, andI guess that'sthe wayI wanted to write him.So... just wait and see what I let happen ;)_

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

Heading for the library's entrance, Summer tried to think about anything else than Craig, if that was possible. Her anger still hadn't faded, it had just been replaced by the happy feeling in herself she always had when she met with Seth. Being with Seth was always funny, and he had a way to take all of her problems away… because there were no problems with Seth. With Craig, everything was complicated: business meetings, monthly rent, groceries, bills, in short, the daily lilfe.

When Summer had lived with Seth for their first weeks in Chicago daily life taken over their relationship, but there had always been a special kind of spark between them, even if it wasn't as huge as at the beginning of their relationship. And that spark had never gone away, at least when it came to Seth being a friend and comfort to her.

But Craig and her were a couple now, and Summer liked it most of the time – it were just days like this that kept creeping her out, the days they were fighting like they had today in the morning. Summer shoved Craig out of her mind and tried to concentrate on her meeting with Seth as she walked up the stairs to the library, silently summarizing all the work they had already done for their report.

A quick glance on her watch told her that she was too late for the meeting she had requested, and she smiled to herself when she imagined how Seth would react if he saw her being too late. When Summer arrived on top of the stairs she scanned the entrance area of the library for any sign of Seth, but he was nowhere to be seen.

She took a few steps into the library and frowned, searching for any sign of Seth, and she spotted him right away, leaning onto a column with his irresistible smile, his backpack hanging loosely on his left shoulder.

As soon as Summer approached him Seth pulled her into a tight hug, and Summer was glad for that, because being hugged was just what she needed right now. And if it was Seth who hugged her she felt even two times better.

* * *

The days flew by, and sooner than Summer could say Tallahassee, five days were over. Five days in which she had heard nothing from Craig, and in which she hadn't even tried to contact him. All she wanted was a little peace and quiet from their constant fighting and bickering over his job, and obviously, Craig felt the same way. 

So today was the day of Craig's arrival, and Summer had no idea when his plane would be arriving due to their lack of conversation in the past few days. She had spent almost all day cleaning up the apartment, something she always liked to do when she was nervous. Ever since she had gotten up in the morning, the fight she had had with Craig had never left her mind, and she replayed the ugly words that had been exchanged over and over again.

Sure, she had said some nasty things to him, but they were true. And Craig hadn't exactly treated her like a princess either, and Summer figured that they both needed to apologize to each other – Craig a little more than her, maybe.

When the front door flung open Summer was just about to get herself something to drink, but when she heard Craig entering the apartment she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Summer?"

Sighing, Summer leant onto the kitchen counter without saying anything. Craig was the one who needed to apologize first, and she didn't want to interrupt him with that.

"Summer, are you home?" She heard how Craig's suitcase was put on the wooden floor and how he went over to the bedroom in his search for her. The tapping of his feet made her smile a little, but still, she didn't move.

A few seconds later Craig's blonde head poked into the kitchen. He wore a guilty smile on his lips and lowered his head as soon as their eyes met. "There you are. Hiding from me?" he asked and slowly went over to her, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek while Summer remained leaning on the counter with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Maybe." She replied and looked at him with her huge brown eyes, almost forcing him to apologize.

"Well, I can't blame you." Craig said and shrugged. He brought his left hand which had been on his back all the time in front of Summer's face, and now Summer couldn't help but at least smile a little.

He had bought her a long-stemmed red rose and gave her his "forgive me" look she could never resist, and Summer shook her head, closing her eyes.

"No, this is..." she paused and opened her eyes again, this time giving him a hurt look. "You can't fix everything with flowers and sweets and that stuff. Do you have the slightest idea how your words hurt me?"

Craig pressed his lips together and placed the rose next to Summer on the counter, leaning closer to her. "I know." He said sincerely and stroked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. "And I'm really sorry, you HAVE to believe me. I mean you were so right with everything you said. And I'm so sorry if I made you believe that you're only here to fill out my time when I'm not working. Because you aren't. I really do love you, Summer."

A sad smile crossed Summer's lips and she took one of Craig's hands in hers, stroking it with her thumb. "I know."

Craig smiled. "Good. And I'm sorry that I said that your lifestyle was exaggerated, and that you only need me to pay for it. Because I know that your lifestyle is normal – just like mine. The only thing you like more are shoes."

Tilting her head, Summer smiled. "Shoes are important. They carry your weight and walk with you through the streets of your life." She said.

Craig laughed and pulled Summer in a tight hug, kissing the top of her head. "I swear we're never gonna fight like that again. Especially not right before I need to leave again."

Frowning, Summer gently pushed Craig away and looked at him, confused. "You need to leave again?" she asked and put her hands on her hips.

Craig shook his head. "Not for at least two weeks. I'm all yours."

Summer nodded. "I'm sorry for the things I said last week, and-"

A finger on her lips made Summer stop talking, and she looked at Craig with her eyes wide open.

"There's no need for you to apologize, baby. You haven't done anything wrong." He said and brought his face closer to hers, showing her how sorry he was with a long, loving kiss.

* * *

Studying was crap. 

Summer decided that the minute she had opened her books and started to get some of the stuff into her head for her finals that were approaching in an incredible fast pace.

After her little make up with Craig the same had gone to unpack his stuff, and Summer had decided that she needed to study a little, since she was still far far away from her pensum. And she hated it when that happened.

The bad thing was, she wasn't even close to having finished all the stuff she should have. The good thing was, she was set to meet Seth later in the afternoon for some last works on their report. When Summer thought back at all the hard work the two of them had invested in the report she was already proud of herself getting an A. Seth, of course, didn't really care about his grade, and Summer figured the only reason why he had put so much effort in that report had been her.

Flipping through the pages, Summer winced. Everything that was in any way related to studying bored the hell out of her right now.

All of a sudden, Craig appeared behind her, kissing the top of her head. "I'm heading out for a jog." He said. "Wanna come?"

Summer sighed and shook her head, trying to smile at her boyfriend. "I can't. I have lots of... stuff to do."

Craig shrugged and kissed her again. "It's okay. School's your priority right now, I can totally understand that. Besides, you wanna keep your straight A average, don't ya?"

Summer sighed and looked down on her books, feeling frustrated. "I want to. But I don't want to read those." She said and pouted.

Craig smiled and patted her head. "Aww, poor baby. All of us had to go through it. I'm sure you'll be able to make it though."

And with that, Craig was gone.

* * *

Summer sighed and focused her attention to her books again, this time without problems on concentrating on them. Ten minutes later she was sunk deep into her own world of studying. 

The shrill beep of her cell phone made Summer jump out of her zen-like state of concentration one hour later, and she stretched before she fumbled for the phone that was covered by loads of books and sheets. Flipping it open, she saw that she had one new text message from Seth.

She bit her lip as she read the message, and all of a sudden, her heart became thousands of pounds heavier.

"_Hey Summer, my Mom just called. I can't come to our meeting, I'm sorry. Seth."_

And when she read those words, Summer had a feeling of which she wished it wouldn't be confirmed, but deep inside herself she knew where Seth was now and why he couldn't come.

* * *

"Jenny, I swear if I have to study a single minute more I'm going crazy." Half an hour later Summer pressed her cell phone to her ear to shut out the Chicago city noise. She was walking along her favorite spot at Lake Michigan, which was the perfect combination of nature and city, with the huge skyscrapers on one side of the street and the light blue water of the Lake on the other. And she knew that Seth loved it too, and that was why she had come here in the first place. 

This place always reminded Summer of California, Newport respectively. At least there was the sound of waves crushing in and out the shore here. Those familiar sounds made her always relax, and that was just what she needed right now, after her long studying session and with the problems that awaited her when she would find Seth eventually.

"God, I have such a bad conscience when you're studying all the time and all I do is watch tv with my book open in front of me." Jenny replied and sighed.

Summer smiled. "Baby, here's a tip for you. Turn the tv off and try to concentrate on the book."

Jenny made a strange noise at the other end of the line and shook her head for emphasize. "Nah, don't want to. Final exams are still weeks away, I have plenty of time."

"Well if you say so." Summer replied and shrugged. She had always thought that her best friend had been too lazy with her studying, and it was a middle world wonder that she had been passing all of her exams until now.

The wind blew some of Summer's hair out of her ponytail and she pushed the strands behind her ear, frowning when she finally spotted the familiar figure laying on a blanket on the small spot of white beach, staring in the cloudless sky.

"Listen, Jen, I'll see you later. Dinner at Margie's? At eight?" Summer asked and slowly walked towards the figure in the sand.

"Sure. See you then. Bye." Jenny answered and before Summer could reply Jenny had hung up. Summer frowned and stared at the cell phone in her hand. This was so typically Jenny, just hanging up when she thought there was no more need to talk. Summer flipped her cell phone shut and smiled as she saw that Seth had his eyes closed, arms crossed behind his head.

Without saying a word, she sat down next to him on the cold sand and looked down on Seth, wondering that he wasn't cold. It was, after all, only late February, and even if the blanket kept his body from the sand, the breeze was still crisp.

She sighed and looked out on the water, watching the boats out on the Lake. It was almost scary how peaceful the middle of such a huge metropolis as Chicago could seem. Just when her thoughts were about to drift off, Seth's voice pulled her back into reality again.

Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and frowned. "Where are you coming from?"

"I suppose I don't have to explain the thing with the flowers and the bees, do I?", Summer asked and smirked.

Seth made a face and yawned, looking really depressed.

Summer's face became worried as she noticed the strange look in Seth's eyes. She softly laid a hand on his arm. "What happened?"

Seth sighed and shook his head. "It's my grandpa..." he replied and trailed off, staring out on the water.

Summer lowered her gaze and bit her lip. The look on Seth's face didn't leave room for any speculations. "He died." She stated and looked up into Seth's face.

Instead of replying, Seth only nodded and sighed again.

Summer couldn't help the feeling of deep compassion for the boy who had been her closest friend over the years.

She lay her arm around Seth comfortingly and propped her head on his shoulder. "When?" she asked, her voice very low.

Seth sighed heavily and rested his head on top of Summer's. "Last night."

Summer nodded and pulled Seth closer to her.

For a long time, neither of them said anything. It was Seth who found his speech first. "I mean, this is just... I don't know." He mumbled and fumbled with his fingers nervously.

"I know." Summer replied and looked up again. "It feels like your world falls apart."

"Yeah but... I don't know, I' almost 23, this shouldn't affect me so much."

Summer smiled a little and took one of Seth's hands, squeezing it in hers tightly. "It doesn't matter how old you are. Your grandpa will always be your grandpa, no matter how old you are. It might feel different when he dies when you're still a kid, but that doesn't mean it's easier when you're grown up."

Seth sighed again and looked into Summer's eyes. "You know what Amy said?"

Summer shook her head.

"She said I should grow up and don't be a baby about it." Seth said, the hurtin his voice clearly hearable. "Great girlfriend I have there, huh?"

Summer's face was full of compassion and she started to stroke Seth's arm. "I'm so sorry." She said sincerely. "She'll never understand. She's never been through it herself." From what Summer knew about Amy this statement was correct. Through all her life, Amy hadn't lost a single relative. So how could she see what Seth was going through?

"But she's my girlfriend, she should at least try to understand how this feels." Seth replied.

Summer sighed and nodded. She couldn't help herself, but she knew that Seth was right about this. So before she said anything that might have hurt Seth even more, she decided to stay calm and just be there for him.

"I wonder what they're gonna do about Lilly." Seth said and bit the insides of his cheeks. "I feel so sorry for her."

"What do you mean?"

Seth shook his head. "I mean if they'll put her through all of this funeral stuff..." he trailed off when he realized how ridiculous that sounded.

"They're just gonna tell her and involve her in everything, I guess. She should be able to cope with it. She's a big girl, you know." Summer replied and smiled comfortingly.

Seth's head fell on Summer's shoulder and he sniffed, making Summer feel highly miserable for him. She placed a soft kiss on his dark curls and pulled him closer.

"But I don't think _I_ can handle this." Seth said and sighed again.

Summer looked down on him and gave Seth a sympathetic smile. "I know why you can't deal with this like a grown-up." She said and winked. "Cuz you aren't."

At this statement, Seth had to smile as well. "Thanks, Roberts, you're so kind."

A content smile crossed Summer's lips. "I know."

"This is just so weird." Seth stated and jumped a little when the sound of his cell phone ringing in his pocket broke the magical mood that lay between the two of them. "Excuse me, I need to..." he said and held the phone up in the air for evidence.

Summer pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and nodded shyly.

Seth gave her a quick smile, flipped the phone open and stood up to get some privacy.

From the look on Seth's face Summer could tell that it was Amy who called. She couldn't help it, but whenever Seth talked to his girlfriend he had such a special facial expression that couldn't be described.

Summer took the occasion to slowly stand up and straighten her skirt. She had been out for too long already and she really needed to get back to studying. Clearing the back of her skirt from the sand, she walked over to Seth and tapped him on the shoulder.

Seth spun around with an unnerved expression on his face and sighed, rolling his eyes towards the cell phone receiver.

Summer couldn't help but smile and nod. She pointed out towards the street and mouthed the words "I need to leave" to him.

He didn't seem to understand what she wanted from him, and he put a hand on the end of the receiver. "What's wrong?"

"I'm leaving." Summer said again, this time louder.

At that news, Seth's face saddened a little, and a small "Oh" escaped his mouth. "Already?" he asked.

Summer nodded and put the strap of her purse closer to her shoulder. "I need to study some more. I haven't reached my pensum for today."

Seth nodded and forced a little smile. "I guess I should do that too."

"See you in English tomorrow?" Summer asked and turned half-around.

On the other end of the line, Amy seemed to say something that made Seth unnerved all the way again, and he rolled his eyes, whimpering a "yeah" into the receiver, and giving Summer a nod.

The same smiled and waved as a goodbye, making her way in the direction of the streets again.

As she was walking for the elevated train, she thought about the Cohen family and how Caleb Nichol's death would stir things up for them.

Summer had never felt more compassion for Seth and his little sister. And she couldn't blame Amy for not understanding what was going on in Seth's mind right now. No one who had never been in a situation like that couldn't possibly understand.

And therefore it was good that Seth had a friend like her. Because she understood him completely. Well, someone needed to.

* * *

It was almost unnormal that Craig was around, and Summer couldn't help but feeling a little confused when she found him laying on the bed, only wearing his boxers and a seductive smile on his lips. 

"Here you are." He said in a low voice and patted to the empty spot next to him. "Join me."

Summer frowned and took her jacket off, tossing it onto her reading chair that was situated next to the window. "Why are you so happy?" she asked while she put her shoes off, wiggling with her toes as she did so.

Craig laughed a little. "You're here." He replied.

Summer forced a weak smile and sighed, falling onto the chair. She leant her head back and sighed.

When she didn't answer, Craig became impatient and sat up a bit. "Hey baby. Come here." He said and started patting the empty spot again.

Summer closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm sorry baby, but I'm really not in the mood." She replied.

Craig pouted and let himself fall on his stomach so he could reach Summer's feet, and he started to massage them from off the bed.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "And don't say nothing cuz I know that there is."

Summer lifted her head and looked down on her feet as she felt the pleasant massage Craig's hands gave her, and she started to relax a bit. Ever since she had left the beach, Summer's thoughts were circling around only one topic – the death of Caleb Nichol, and how sad and depressed Seth had been about it. And now, in Craig's hands, she felt how her tension slowly went away.

She looked up from her feet and into Craig's eyes and sighed.

"Seth's grandfather died last night." She said.

Craig stopped the massaging and gave her a look that was full of compassion. "Oh. Tell him I'm really sorry."

Summer nodded and leant her head back, closing her eyes again. Just as she had closed them the image of Seth on his blanket on the beach crossed her inner eye again and she longed to go back and comfort him like she had before.

"Come on." Craig said and sat up. "Come into the bed and talk about it."

Summer shook her head again and let out a bitter laugh. "Craig, I don't wanna come to bed... I just need to think." She replied and rubbed her eyes. "Plus, I'm really tired."

Craig smiled and went over to Summer to place a sweet kiss on her forehead. "So if you're tired the best place to be is the bed." He said, trying to convince her to join him.

"Craig, please-"

"Summer, we see each other so rarely these days... all I want is a little cuddling with you, nothing more." Craig interrupted her, giving her one of his baby boy looks she loved so much.

And just like every time, the baby boy look worked and Summer had to grin. "Fine." She said and stood up, still smiling at him. "You win."

Behind Summer's back Craig started to have his own little victory dance, obviously being very proud of himself.

Summer turned around all of a sudden, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Stop the stupid dance." She said and pointed over to the bed. "I thought you were so obsessed about the bed, and now I don't see you anywhere in it."

Craig grinned and jumped on the bed, crawling under the blankets, Summer curling up next to him, her head resting on his chest. "I feel so sorry for Seth." She began and sighed again. "His parents have kept his grandfather's disease a secret until it was too late."

Craig stroked Summer's hair as he listened to her, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head every now and then.

"And now he's gone and Seth didn't even have the chance to say a proper goodbye and everything."

Craig sighed and looked down on Summer's tiny head, smiling to himself as he realized once more how much he loved her.

Now Summer went on. "So he's hurt, confused and depressed all at the same time now. I feel so sorry for him..." And once again, Summer's thoughts drifted off to Seth, his miserable image from before jumping in and off from her inner eye over and over again.

"I know what'll take your mind off of things." Craig said and lifted Summer's head to kiss her. But just before their lips met, Summer shoved Craig away angrily and sat up a bit. "Craig, I told you I'm not in the mood for this."

Craig shook his head and sighed. "Summer, he's just a friend of yours. And you've barely known his grandfather. So why are you making such a big deal out of it?" he asked, his voice unnerved.

Summer rolled her eyes and sat up completely, putting a distance between her and Craig. "He's not just a friend. He's my best friend. And he's the only one who's always been there for me." She replied.

"What, and you think that I'm not always there for you?" Craig asked, his eyes widened twice their size.

Summer threw a hand up in the air and rolled her eyes again. "This isn't about you, Craig!" she yelled angrily and stood up again, putting her hands on her hips.

"So what is this about?" Craig asked and crossed his muscular arms in front of his perfectly shaved chest.

Summer closed her eyes and counted to three before answering and losing her temper completely. Why in the world didn't Craig understand that the bond that Seth and her shared was something special, and that she practically felt Seth's depression and grief?

"This is-"

The ringing of her cell phone interrupted Summer from saying anything more, and she went over to her purse to take the call, smiling a little when she saw that it was Seth who called her.

"What is this, Summer?" Craig asked, ignoring the ringing of Summer's cell phone.

Without answering, Summer turned her back to him and took the call. "Hey Seth."

"Hi." Seth said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Summer frowned. "What's wrong? Why are you whispering?"

Seth sighed and Summer heard how he closed a door. "Amy's asleep. Listen, I kind of need to ask you a favor." He said and slumped down on his living room couch.

Summer blinked twice and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Sure, what do you need?" She felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around, an angry glare on her face. "What?" she asked, her voice bitchy.

"I-I'm sorry, I-"

"Not you Seth. Hold on." Summer said and put a hand on the receiver, raising her eyebrows in Craig's direction.

"Say Seth I'm sorry about his grandpa." Craig whispered and nodded for emphasize.

Summer rolled her eyes and turned around again. "Craig says he's sorry about your grandfather."

"Oh. Thanks." Seth said and sighed again. "So, the favor-"

"Cohen just ask. You know you can ask me anything."

"Okay. So... it turns out that Amy's sick. Like really sick, with fever and coughing and everything." Seth said and closed his eyes, rubbing them with his free hand. His head felt like exploding, which was no miracle regarding everything that had happened in the past few hours. "And my grandpa's funeral is this weekend. And Amy wanted to go with me, but it seems like she can't now. And so I was wondering..." he rubbed his neck and sighed.

Summer smiled to herself as she heard how Seth tried to ask her if she wanted to come with him to California, but she didn't say anything. She wanted to hear Seth say the words himself. "You were wondering?" she asked and twisted a strand of hair around her finger, something she always did when she was on the phone.

"I don't wanna go alone, Summer." Seth said with so much pity in his voice that Summer's heart felt like exploding from compassion. "I'm kinda scared of going back all by myself, you know."

Summer's face softened and she smiled dreamily. "When do I have to be at the airport?" she asked.

Seth sighed happily and sat up straight on his couch, a tiny smile on his lips. "You're coming with me?" he asked.

Summer nodded and smiled. "Sure I am. Someone's gotta make sure that you don't get lost on the way back to California."

Seth grinned and nodded, lowering his eyes. "Thank you Summer. Really."

Summer closed her eyes. "I'm happy to help you."

"Um, so, about the flight – let's say I'll get a cab and pick you up tomorrow at around 8 am?" Seth asked.

"Sounds good. I'll be ready. So, see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow." Seth replied, confirming Summer's question.

"Okay. And Cohen?"

"Hm?"

"Try to get some sleep. You look terrible." Summer said and grinned to herself.

"I will. I feel better now that I know that you're coming." Seth replied and hung up, leaving Summer's heart full of joy. After she had closed her cell phone, she remained sitting on the edge of the bed in silence, thinking about Seth and what he had just told her. He was just adorable. And kind, and sweet, and nice... and-

"Don't tell me you're going to California this weekend."

Craig's voice interrupted Summer's thoughts and she turned around, lowering her gaze. "Amy's sick. And Mr Nichol's funeral is this weekend. And Seth doesn't wanna go alone." She explained and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The last thing she wanted now was a discussion about her weekend plans.

Craig sat up fully now and shook his head. "I don't believe you. This is the first weekend in weeks that I'm home and that we can actually be together and you're leaving."

Summer raised her eyebrows and put some more distance between her and Craig. "Excuse me? Do you wanna tell me that it's okay that you're gone all the time, and now that I chose to leave for ONE SINGLE weekend you're blaming me?"

Craig bit the insides of his cheeks and shot Summer an icy glare. "Why do you have to go with him, anyway? Isn't he grown up enough to deal with a funeral by himself?"

At that comment, Summer's jaw dropped and she stood up from the bed, heading for the door. "You're such an ass." She said and left the room without turning around.

By the time she was in the kitchen Craig had already followed her, still just wearing his boxers. Summer tried her best to ignore him and poured herself some diet coke in a glass, not looking at him once.

"So you chose to ignore me now?" Craig asked and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs while Summer went over to the window, watching the sun setting on the horizon. "Come on now. You need to admit that it's not really grown-up from him not to go to a funeral alone. It's not such a big deal."

That was enough. Summer spun around, and if looks could kill, Craig would have been laying dead on the kitchen floor. "You don't know him. And you don't understand him. AND you don't know how important he is to me!" she yelled.

"I know how important he is to you. In fact, I think that he is too important to you!" Craig shouted and stood up again, anger rising in him as well now.

"What do you wanna say now? That I'm in love with him or what?"

"To be honest, yes!" Craig replied and shook his head. "It's disgusting how you forget everything else as soon as he calls! You would do like everything for him. And I ask you not to leave me for one fucking weekend and you're leaving never the less!"

Summer closed her eyes and tried to suppress her anger. "I guess that's called friendship." She spat and headed for the kitchen door, Craig following her to the bedroom where she put on her shoes and jacket. "STOP FOLLOWING ME!" she yelled all of a sudden, tears in her eyes. She didn't even know where those tears came from, but she was convinced that they were angry tears.

Summer sighed and put a hand on her temple, gently rubbing it. "If you think that I'm helping him just because I'm in love with him you don't know what friendship is." She paused and looked at him, her eyes hurt and full of tears now. "But I guess you could never know what friendship is, let alone love. You're around so rarely that you can't make any friends – or give me the love I deserve. Seth is always there for me – and where are you?" she paused and took a few steps to the front door, opening it.

Ignoring the bewildered look on Craig's face, she went on. "Oh, I forgot. You're on business travels. Because your job is more important than me. So sorry if I make friends while you're gone. And sorry if unlike you, my friends care for me. And sorry again that I care for them."

Craig reached out for Summer and touched her arm, a hurt look on his face. "Summer, I-"

Slowly, Summer turned around and closed her eyes, some tears falling down her cheeks. "I don't wanna talk about it. I'm going to California whether you like it or not." She said and turned around again. When she reached the steps, she paused, and whispered, almost unhearable: "It's nice to see that you don't have a clue of what I feel for you."

And with that, Summer headed down the stairs, wiping away her tears, leaving Craig standing alone in the doorframe, with only his boxers on. He sighed and slowly closed the door. Summer's words had hit him heavily, and he knew that she was right. He was barely around these days, and Jenny, Seth, Chris and everybody else were just her friends.

He hated that he had to go away so many times, but he already had a solution for the problem. Well, not a solution for the problem, but he had a plan how he could prove to Summer how much he loved her. And he knew she would like it.

* * *

_Next chapter: The Last Goodbye_


	8. The Last Goodbye

_A/N: New chapter today! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I appreciate them (especially to the ones who reviewed with a NAME, not just with "..")._

_So today I'll post the funeral chapter, with the tension between Seth and Summer rising… how couldn't it, they're going to California together! lol And I know you all hate Craig, so I'll give you a little timeout from him for this chapter ;)_

_I hope you like it and please review! Thanks! _:)

**The Last Goodbye**

"Well, if that isn't Summer Roberts!" Sandy's eyes grew wide as he spotted Summer walking up towards him at the airport, but he smiled. Firstly because she had her arm linked through her son's, and secondly because she seemed to be more adult every time he saw her, and seeing the teenage girl his son had fallen in love with a few years ago grow into a beautiful young woman made him sort of proud, even if Summer wasn't his daughter.

Summer unlinked her arm from Seth's and gave Sandy a friendly hug. "Hey Sandy." She said and smiled her typical Summer-smile. "How are you?"

Sandy waved a hand and put his hands on her shoulders, examining her from head to toe. "Always the same, you know. But look at you-" he smiled, "all grown up and so beautiful."

"Sandy…" Summer looked down and bit her lip, blushing a little. Despite being confident she always blushed when she got a compliment, but she couldn't help it.

"Dad, stop hitting on her, she's got a boyfriend, you know." Seth said and came hobbling up to his father and Summer, a sad look on his face that almost broke Summer's heart every time she saw it.

"Really? Too bad." Sandy said and winked at Summer who blushed again. He walked over to his son and gave him a tight hug, trying to comfort him a little.

Normally Seth thought too long hugs with your parents were kind of embarrassing, especially in public places like an airport, but he had decided the moment he had left his Chicago apartment in the morning that the death of his grandfather was bigger than any possible public embarrassment people who wanted to comfort you could give you.

"How are you?" Sandy asked into Seth's ear, and Seth pulled out of the hug, looking on the ground and shrugging. "Could be better." He answered honestly and Sandy laid an arm around his son's shoulders. He pointed to Summer with his head and winked at her again. "But I see you've got nice company."

Seth nodded. "Yeah, Amy's sick, so… I needed support, with my leg and everything." He said and squirmed to get out of Sandy's embrace.

The same looked at Summer who smiled at Seth's explanation, since she clearly remembered Seth wanting her to come with her for a whole different reason.

"I see." Sandy said and clapped his hands. "So let's get your luggage and get home. Get ready for the whole Nichol family gathered there." He added and rolled his eyes.

Seth looked at Summer with raised eyebrows, shaking his head. "That's great. I'm already feeling sorry for you."

Summer laughed and shook her head, linking her arm through Seth's again. "Come on, they can't be that bad. They're your family." She said and tilted her head.

Seth nodded. "That's my point exactly."

* * *

When Sandy had talked about the "whole Nichol family", he had definitely exaggerated, Seth noticed that the minute he entered his parents' house, earlier than he had planned. The next visit to California should have been one or two weeks before the finals for his mother's birthday, but now he was here again, this time for a whole unpleasant reason.

When they entered the living room the first people he spotted were his aunt Hailey and her fianceé Jared, Julie Cooper-Nichol, and Caleb's sister Mary who, if you knew her finances and regarded the fact that she hadn't spoken to Caleb for over ten years, had clearly just come for the reading of Caleb's will, since a fund they had shared was now all hers. Sweet relatives.

They were all sitting around the living room table, looking at old photos and newspaper cutouts. When Sandy, Summer and Seth entered the house, everyone greeted them with waves and hellos, and Seth and Summer waved back politely while Sandy brought their suitcases upstairs in their rooms.

When everyone's attention was focused on the photos again, a little head with long brown curls poked around the corner, a big smile spreading across the girl's cute little face when she saw her brother had finally arrived.

"Seeeeth!" Lilly squeaked and ran up towards her brother, hugging his waist tightly. "You're here!"

Seth smiled and kneeled down to Lilly as best as he could, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Of course I am. Did you think I'd leave you alone during all of this?"

Lilly smiled and shook her head, breaking off into another round of squeeing when she saw Summer standing behind Seth, smiling warmly at the cute brother-sister scene.

"Summy!" Lilly yelled and ran over to Summer to hug her in the same stormy way she had just hugged Seth. "I love you."

Summer hugged Lilly back and laughed. "Aww baby you're so sweet! I love you too." she examined Lilly from head to toe and gasped. "Wow, and you've grown so much since Chrimukkah, it's amazing. You're almost taller than me!"

"Well, that's not an art." Seth said from the background and smiled to himself at the joke he had just made.

He was not prepared for the slap on the back of his head Summer gave him for that comment, pretending to be offended by his joke.

"Hitting is not allowed!" Lilly yelled and put both of her hands over her mouth in shock.

"It is for me." Summer said and winked at Seth, giving him an innocent smile. "You know baby, I'm not hitting your brother. I'm just trying to awake his brain so it might start working again."

Lilly stared at Summer with her eyes wide open. "I don't get that." She simply said and took Seth and Summer by their hands, pulling them behind her in the direction of the kitchen. "Come say hi to Mommy, she's so sad."

Seth and Summer gave each other a look and Summer gently pulled her hand out of Lilly's grip, causing her to stop. "You know what sweetie," Summer said and looked back and forth from Seth to Lilly, "why don't you come with me when I say hi to your auntie and everyone… and Seth goes and sees your Mommy."

Lilly let go of Seth's hand and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You're bad at making excuses." She said. "You can tell me that Seth wants to talk to Mommy alone."

Despite the sadness he was feeling Seth had to laugh, and so did Summer. Sometimes Lilly acted like there was no way that she was only six years old. "Okay then, next time I'll try and find a better excuse." Summer said and took Lilly's hand again while her other hand squeezed Seth's arm as she made her way to the living room table.

Seth smiled sadly at Summer's try to comfort him and slowly made his way into the kitchen, almost scared of what might await him there. He had expected to see his mother weeping over a glass of wine or something, but the image he got when he entered the Cohen kitchen was different. Kirsten sat at the dining table with her back turned to him, twisting a glass of water between her fingers, her head bowed slightly. Her body didn't shake from crying, she just sat there, quiet, and stared at her hands.

Seth cleared his throat, his heart bumping hard on his chest as his mother slowly turned around.

Kirsten's face lit up when she saw her beloved son standing in the kitchen entrance, giving her a shy smile. "My baby." She whispered and stood up to give her son a tight embrace, trying to blink back some tears.

"Hey Mom." Seth whispered into Kirsten's ear, closing his eyes and actually enjoying his mother's hug. "How are you?"

Kirsten pulled back and forced a smile, trying to seem okay. "I'm dealing with it." She said and looked away. "I had time to prepare for it."

At that comment, Seth bit his lip and nodded. "_You_ had." He replied. "Lilly and me? Not so much."

Kirsten blinked back a few tears and stroked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm so sorry about everything, sweetie."

Seth sighed and put his hands on his mother's shoulders. "It's okay mom. We covered that." He said and smiled. "I mean it's not okay, but… okay, you know?"

Kirsten stroked Seth's cheek and smiled, this time not a sad but a happy smile. After all, she was glad her little boy was here.

"So… I might be wrong, but I think I heard Summer's voice talking to Lilly out there." Kirsten said and went over to the dining table, pulling out the chair next to her for Seth to sit down.

"Yeah well, you might've heard that correctly." Seth said and hobbled over to the chair, collapsing on it gratefully.

Kirsten tilted her head and took a sip of her water. "Are the two of you…?"

"No no no no no! She's just supporting me… as a friend, nothing more. Amy's got the flu, and I-"

"You didn't wanna go here alone." Kirsten finished her son's sentence and smiled a little when Seth stared at her with his eyes wide open. "Sweetie, I know you better than you think I do." She said.

"Mommy, look who's here!"

As so often in the Cohen household, Lilly's little voice interrupted a conversation, and both Seth and Kirsten looked over to the kitchen door to see Summer on Lilly's hand, shrugging apologetically.

"She wouldn't wanna wait outside." She said and smiled as Kirsten stood up and walked over to hug her.

"Don't worry about it sweetie, that's the way she is." Kirsten said and, just as Sandy had done it an hour ago, examined Summer from head to toe. "You are beautiful." She said sincerely, and Summer smiled happily.

"Thanks. How are you?"

Kirsten waved a hand and shrugged. "Trying to cope. We'll get through it."

"Oh I bet you will." Summer said while she looked around the kitchen. Nothing had changed since her High School graduation, everything looked the same than four years before. Well, she had been at the Cohen house for Chrismukkah, but it amazed her everytime how much of a High School flashback a visit to Seth's parents was. "Coming here is always like being on a time machine and going back to High School." She stated and sighed as she remembered how good her life had been back then. Not that it wasn't good now, but back then, life had been so… easy.

"Well… everyone needs a flashback now and then." Kirsten said and winked, looking over to Seth who depserately tried to stop Lilly from climbing onto his lap and cause further damage to his just recovering knee.

"Lilly, get off of your brother! You know he's hurt!" she yelled and grabbed her little daughter by the arm, gently pulling her away. "I'm living in the loony bin."

Summer and Seth laughed and Kirsten shook her head while Lilly tried to make her mother let go of her arm, protesting loudly.

"Take out's here!" Ryan's head poked into the kitchen and Seth's gaze lit up as he saw his brother. He stood up and hobbled over to him and shook his hand, grinning broadly. "Thai takeout, huh?" he asked, pointing to the food boxes Ryan was carrying under his arm. "What a revolutionary idea."

Ryan shook his head and smiled, waving to Summer. "Hi Summer. How are ya?"

"I'm fine Atwood, how are you?" she asked and went over to give Ryan a little kiss on the cheek. "I heard you wanna have a baby."

Ryan grinned broadly and nodded. "Well, we're trying."

"That's so cute. I wanna see pictures when it's born!" Summer chimed and clapped her hands.

In the background, Kirsten was talking to Lilly who had started to become a little whiny, still at the fact that she wasn't allowed to use her brother as a monkey bars.

"Kim's not even pregnant yet." Seth said and stared at Summer in disbelievement. Again, with this comment, he had caught himself another slap on the back of his head by Summer. "Ouch! You know Roberts, this happens too much lately." He said and Summer gave him a look as if she was ready to kill.

"Come, help set up the table. At least you won't be talking so much crap then." Summer ordered as she proceeded to the shelf that contained plates and glasses.

Ryan shot one of his famous Atwood looks, one eyebrow raised at the tone Summer was using. "You're not a couple and she's till bossing you around like this?" he asked and shook his head.

Seth sighed and shrugged, pointing again to the food boxes. "You know dude… some things never change."

* * *

After dinner, Summer wanted to give the Cohens some time alone to talk and everything, and so she decided to go to her room and try to get some rest, watch tv or something like that.

On her way to the guest room Summer passed a very familiar door, and she couldn't help but to peek into Seth's old room. As she caught a glimpse of the wall, her gaze fell onto the old comic character drawings Seth had made of her, and even if she knew she shouldn't just walk into Seth's room without asking she couldn't help the almost magnetical force that pulled her into the room.

As she entered she felt like being a teenager again, with all the posters and photos and drawings that were hung all over Seth's walls, and she smiled to herself as she remembered those happy times back then.

To get a better look at all the drawings and pictures, Summer took a few steps back and sat onto Seth's bed, examining every piece of paper that was on the wall thoroughly. The memories were almost overwhelming, but in a good way. They filled Summer's heart with a warmth she had been missing for a long time, and she wondered if she'd ever be as happy as she had been in High School.

Life was okay now too, but there were times when she missed the fun the fantastic four had had back then, and there were times when she missed one person in particular. But she was more than grateful that he was her best friend now.

"Hi."

A tiny voice brought Summer out of the world of her thoughts into reality again, and she smiled when she saw little Lilly standing across from her, leaning onto Seth's surfboard that was leant against the wall.

She smiled and tilted her head. "Hi, baby. Are you okay?"

Lilly shrugged and looked down on the floor, watching herself as she wiggled with her toes.

Summer patted on the spot next to her on Seth's bed. "Why don't you join me here? Your brother's bed has room for two." She said and smiled sympathetically.

Lilly smiled a little and went over to Summer, jumping on the bed in the place right next to her. "I hate this dress." she announced and started to fumble with the hem of her skirt, putting on a perfect "ew"-look.

"Why? Is something wrong with it?" Summer asked and propped an arm behind Lilly's back.

"Black makes people sad. I don't like sad people." Lilly said and sighed. "And I don't like Mommy crying."

Summer smiled sadly and started to stroke Lilly's hair. "Black also makes people seem thinner." She said in an attempt to take Lilly's mind off of the things that were going on in the Cohen household.

Lilly stared at Summer with her huge brown eyes. "Really? Is that why the fat Rosie in my class always wears black dresses?"

Summer frowned but couldn't help but smile. That little girl was just too cute to be Seth's sister. "Don't call her fat Rosie. I bet she doesn't really like to be called like that."

Lilly sighed. "EVERYONE calls her fat Rosie. She's always alone at lunch because she's..." she made a disgusted face. "Weird. And she smells."

A little laugh escaped Summer's mouth, and she shook her head. "Okay, so she smells weird. But I'm sure it hurts her that everyone makes fun of her."

"How do you know?" Lilly asked and laid down on her back, resting her head in Summer's lap for Summer to stroke her hair.

"There once was this very skinny little boy." Summer said and smiled at the memory of sixth grade Seth Cohen. "And he was strange, at least that was how he seemed to be for the other children. And no one ever played with him. Everyone just made fun of him or did mean things to bother him, and those children thought they were very funny."

Lilly had her eyes closed, and because Summer assumed that she was sleeping she paused with her story. A few seconds later Lilly's eyes popped open and she looked at Summer expectingly. "What did the children do to the boy?"

Smiling, Summer continued, and Lilly closed her eyes again. "Well, some of them locked him in a wardrobe in the biology classroom, even if they knew that the little boy was afraid in small rooms."

"Claustrophobic." Lilly explained and yawned, and Summer shook her head, laughing. That girl really was Seth's sister. "That's mean."

Summer nodded. "That's very mean. And the little boy always wondered why the other children were so mean to him, and why he didn't have any friends, but he couldn't find an answer to that. So he went home to his mom and he cried and asked her what was wrong with him. And his mom said that nothing was wrong with him, that he was a wonderful little boy with a big heart, and that the other children just needed some time to see that too."

Looking up, Summer saw Seth leaning in the doorway, a hurt look on his face as he listened to her recalling the terrible events his childhood had to offer. She smiled sadly and their eyes locked, and even if Summer had wanted to look away she wouldn't have been able to. The look he gave her was so intense and so full of... affection that it was impossible to look away. She felt shivers wandering up and down her spine as she dove deep into his chocolate brown eyes.

"Did the other children see that he was a wonderful boy?" Lilly's tiny voice cut the wonderful silence between them and Summer cleared her throat, blinking, yet not able to look away, and neither did Seth.

"Eventually, they did. And they also saw that he was the greatest and best friend in the whole world, and that whoever was friends with him could consider himself the luckiest person on the planet." Summer replied in a low voice, blushing when she saw how Seth's lips turned into a tiny smile about the beautiful end she had given his story. "Because he is special."

In Summer's lap, Lilly giggled and opened her eyes, her giggles finally enabling Summer to take her eyes off of Seth and focus on the little girl again.

"That's a pretty story." Lilly said and sat up, rubbing her forehead. "I will talk to fat Rosie on Monday and ask if she wanna eat with us."

Summer nodded, smiling contently. "That's a good girl." She replied and stroked a strand of hair behind Lilly's ear.

Lilly shrugged and stood up from the bed, walking towards the door. Mid-way there, she paused. "Maybe fat Rosie is special too."

"Maybe." Summer replied and looked at Lilly, smiling friendly. Her gaze wandered in the direction of the doorframe, but when her eyes found the spot where Seth had been standing only a few minutes before, the only thing she saw now instead of his chocolate brown eyes was an open door.

* * *

During the funeral the next morning, Summer felt like a heavy stone was laying on her chest that made it hard for her to breathe, and she didn't want to know how Seth or even Kirsten must have felt right at the moment, if the death of a man that had been an asshole most of his life affected her so much. Maybe it just affected her in such a huge dimension because Summer had never had a real family, and she didn't really know how it felt to lose somebody except for her mother – and her mother hadn't died, she had left her and her dad, so that was kind of different.

And Summer had never seen Seth so confused and lost. Throughout the whole day Seth had been searching her company, and whenever she went to somewhere it didn't take long until Seth found and joined her, searching her closeness and warmth of her body to comfort him.

When the coffin was lowered into the grave, Summer was not surprised that Seth's fingers searched hers all of a sudden, and she took his hand, stroking it with her thumb to comfort him as best as she could. As he felt that Summer accepted to hold his hand, Seth slightly leant onto her, squeezing her hand only tighter.

For the rest of the day, Seth and Summer were almost inseparable, exchanging tiny touches and comforting smiles whenever they needed to. And it was normal, they were best friends. None of them misinterpreted the situation, and that was what Summer probably liked the most about it.

After the funeral, when everyone had returned to the Cohen household, Summer managed to sneak out in the garden for some alone time, thinking about her days back here in Newport. She loved being with the Cohen family, even if it was for such sad occasions, but it was great to be part of a family that loved each other so much and was always there for one another.

Back in her High School days, when she had been a happy couple with Seth, she had always thought that one fine day, she would be a part of this family too. Of course Sandy and Kirsten always told her that she already was, and Summer was sure that whatever problem she had, the Cohens would always help her through it.

But now she wasn't even Seth's girlfriend anymore, and sometimes it felt kind of strange to her, being in the Cohen house just like that.

A very familiar voice interrupted Summer's thoughts.

"Not bad, huh?" Summer spun around, a hand over her chest to stop her heart from falling out.

"Oh. My. God, Cohen, you scared me to death!" she yelled and gave him a mad look which made Seth smile as he slowly walked over to her. "I'm sorry." He whispered and put both his hands in his pocket, staring out on the ocean just like she did.

"Do you realize that we do that staring out on the water thing way too often?" Seth asked and smirked.

Summer smiled and looked down. "Yeah well… children of southern California, you know. We need the water like others need the air to breathe."

"Might be true." Seth said and sighed as he recalled the events of the day. His grandfather's funeral, the dinner, tears, sadness… the negative list was endless. He gazed over to Summer who rubbed her bare arms, and he smiled. Besides his little sister the only thing that had achieved to make him smile over the past few days had been Summer.

He took off his sweater and hung it around her shoulders as Summer stared at him with her eyes wide open. "Cohen, you don't need to-"

"Come on Roberts, I can see you're totally freezing. So just take this thing."

Summer smiled and sighed, taking a step closer to Seth. "Thanks." She whispered and looked into his deep brown eyes. "How are you?" she asked, gently rubbing his arm as he bit his lip and stared at the sun that was setting on the horizon.

Seth sighed. "I don't know. Confused?" he asked and Summer smiled.

"It's not a quiz Cohen. Are you sad?"

Seth shrugged. "A little." He whispered and sighed again. "My head's just… empty."

Summer nodded and laid her arm that was rubbing his arm before around his back, pulling him closer to her. "I could be mean and make a joke about that now." She said and smiled to herself.

Seth shook his head but grinned. "You wouldn't dare. Listen…"

Summer looked up into his eyes and all of a sudden, a million sparks were in the air, and Summer shivered, wondering if Seth felt the sparks too.

"I…" Seth blinked twice and paused. Was he just dreaming or was his stomach really turning somersaults as he gazed into her big brown eyes? "I just wanted to… thank you for coming with me… here." He swallowed, desperately trying to calm down his abnormal fast heartbeat.

For a long moment, neither of them was able to speak, and they just gazed into each other's eyes, letting the warm California wind stroke their skins.

As the red sunlight illuminated Seth's face, Summer couldn't help but bring her face closer to his, completely forgetting the world around them for a short moment.

Seth didn't resist, and his face came closer to hers, and as their lips were only inches apart, Seth closed his eyes, waiting for her soft lips to meet his own to caress them with a kiss.

All of a sudden, Seth felt two tiny hands on his torso that gently pushed him away, and he opened his eyes again to see a confused look on Summer's face.

"Cohen, I…" she said, totally out of breath. "We can't… do this."

Seth shook his head firmly, as if he wanted to convince himself that indeed they couldn't do this. "No, listen, I'm sorry…"

"It's… it's okay. I should…" Summer pointed to the house, trying to somehow get rid of that strange feeling in her stomach. "Call Craig, you know. Tell him what's been going on and stuff."

Seth nodded, well aware of the strange mood that had settled between them all of a sudden. "Sure." He said and slowly sat down, stretching his bandaged leg out in front of him. "Tell him I said hi."

Summer blinked twice and took the sweater off her shoulders, holding it out to Seth so he would take it back.

The same just shook his head. "Keep it." He said and stared out on the ocean. "I know where you live."

"Thanks." Giving him a quick smile, Summer ran into the house, cursing herself for letting Seth coming _that_ close to her.

What the hell had she been thinking?

* * *

_Next chapter: A Kiss Is Just A Kiss – it'sSeth's birthday… and the tension between Seth and Summer reaches the climax…_


	9. A Kiss Is Just A Kiss

_A/N: Hi people! I'm so sorry that this update took so long, but I got my wisdom teeth pulled and didn't feel able to move over the past few days. But here's the promised chapter! _

_Thanks so much for all of your lovely comments, I really appreciated them! Please comment again when you read this one, it really means a lot. :)_

**A Kiss Is Just A Kiss**

From the next morning on, things couldn't have been going weirder between Seth and Summer. Had they stuck together for almost all weekend, they were now living through the exact opposite. At breakfast the next day, they didn't talk, and they barely looked at each other.

Summer had been cursing herself almost all night for letting a situation like the night before happen, and Seth was afraid that Summer might think that he didn't respect that she was living in a relationship – and that he was ignoring that he lived in one, too. He knew that he hadn't exactly been thinking the night before, he had just gotten caught in the magic of the moment, and now every magic Seth and Summer had been going on between them was ruined.

Their journey back to Chicago happened in an embarrassing silence, and both of them tried to make their ways to their apartments as fast as they could once the plane had arrived back in Illinois.

And none of them wanted to admit it, but there was an inevitable attraction they felt for one another.

And both of them knew that they couldn't let this attraction happen.

* * *

Two weeks after the funeral it was Seth's birthday which was planned to be celebrated in one of the gang's most favorite club in Chicago, the "Windbreaker". Amy had prepared a party with hundreds of guests Seth didn't even know, but for her it was important that the club was full – it wasn't important how many people Seth acutally knew.

Summer had intented to help Amy with the preparations, but as usual, Amy shoved her away and told her that she could manage all of the organisations by herself. Summer didn't really want to interfere in Amy's business, so she stayed out of the preparations – just like she tried to avoid any closeness to Seth for the past two weeks.

She was still feeling highly embarrassed for the almost kiss Seth and her had shared at his grandfather's funeral, and she figured if her and Seth didn't see each other every day anymore, the weirdness would somehow go away.

Even if it was kind of stupid, Seth thought the same things. And it wasn't like they were ignoring each other, they spoke and had fun and everything – they just didn't spend as much time together as usual. They had even taken a break from their report, which they had still more than enough time to finish for.

So the two weeks until Seth's birthday pracitcally flew by, and the sooner Seth wanted it to happen, the evening of his 23rd birthday was there, and he found himself and Amy walking arm in arm through the entrance of the "Windbreaker" where all the hundreds of people Amy had somehow hired for the party were waiting to shout their "surprise".

The "windbreaker" was full of people, as usual. Of course not everyone was there to celebrate Seth's birthday, even if loads of them got their special invitations from Amy, but lots of his friends and co-students from his different classes were gathered. That was one thing Seth loved about college – he had had the chance to make a brand new start concerning friends and buddies. He wasn't bullied and nobody called him geek anymore – well, nobody except Summer, and she was allowed to do so.

When Amy and Seth entered the club everyone jumped up and shouted their oligatory "surprise", even though Seth already knew everything about the party. They just shouted for the effect.

Amy was holding Seth's hand as her gaze wandered through the room, scanning the people that had come to attend the party. In one corner near the bar, Jenny, Summer and Chris stood, already some drinks in their hands. Summer was alone and Amy guessed that Craig was away once again. She really felt sorry for that girl – what use did a boyfriend have if he wasn't around?

Seth seemed to have spotted this group as well and pulled Amy over to them.

"Happy birthday honey!"

Chris was the first to hug Seth and place a kiss on his cheek. Amy would have given everything for a camera to take a picture of the disgusted look on Seth's face at that moment. The group giggled as Seth wiped his cheek and smiled innocently at Chris who stuck out his tongue and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Jenny was the next to congratulate Seth by hugging him tightly and kissing him on the cheek just like Chris had. This time, Seth just smiled but didn't wipe his

cheek, and Amy nudged him playfully in the ribs.

"So Chris isn't allowed to kiss you but Jenny is?" she asked and smirked, trying to sound offended. Of course she knew that Seth was only making fun with his friends there.

Seth turned around and smiled as innocently at her as he had smiled at Chris before. "Yeah, but no one except you's allowed to kiss me here." He said and pointed to his lips, pulling Amy closer so she could kiss him.

Amy suppressed a grin and leant over, gently caressing Seth's lips with hers when Summer, who was clearing her throat, interrupted them.

"I don't want to disturb you guys, but I want to wish you a happy birthday." She said and tilted her head, a sweet smile on her face.

Amy rolled her eyes a little but eventually moved away from Seth who, seconds later, was embraced by Summer in a very tight hug.

"Happy birthday, Seth." Summer whispered and closed her eyes as Seth hugged her tightly. "I really wish you all the best."

Seth smiled and nodded, his head resting on Summer's shoulder. "Thanks." He said. "I wish you all the best too."

Summer giggled but didn't let go of him. "It's not my birthday."

Seth pulled back a little to face her and shook his head. "No it's not. But you deserve the best."

Summer felt herself blushing a little and wondered if Seth had been drinking before Amy and he had been coming to the club, and as she noticed the dreamy look on his face she knew that her assumption was right. Seth had this special "drunk Cohen" stare on his face, his cheeks glowing and his eyes all dreamy. Plus, if he hadn't been drinking, he probably wouldn't have let her hug him as tight as she just had.

It was good that she was slightly drunk as well.

An awkward silence fell among the small group and everyone stared into the crowd, trying desperately to find a topic to talk about. Summer concentrated on stirring in her cocktail with her straw instead of looking at anybody else and Chris and Jenny found their fingernails more interesting than the rest of the club.

Amy, who had taken Seth's hand in hers again sighed and finally cleared her throat, looking up to Seth who scanned the crowd in the club.

"Honey, do you wanna get some drinks?" she asked and plastered a sweet smile on her lips that made Summer feel like vomiting right on Amy's shoes.

Seth grinned and nodded and looked at the others in excuse. "We'll be back in a sec." He said and pulled Amy with him to the other side of the bar where the barkeeper was mixing some beverages.

Summer was still slurping her drink as she watched Seth and Amy walking away, highly concentrated on not looking into either Chris' or Jenny's eyes. But that was a useless attempt since Chris was already next to her, his arms around her shoulders. "It's hard watching them, huh?" he asked kindly and pulled Summer only closer to him.

Summer shot him an angry glare and took another sip of her cocktail. "Save it Chris." She mumbled, her eyes never leaving Seth and Amy who were definitely more interested in making out than in getting cocktails.

Jenny jumped to Summer's other side and nudged her in the ribs, winking at her best friend. "Don't deny that you're jealous, we know you way too much." She said.

Summer rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically loud, putting her straw back into her cocktail. She narrowed her eyes and looked from Jenny to Chris and back again. If looks could kill Chris and Jenny definitely would have been laying dead at her feet, but unfortunately, they just kept staring at Summer instead.

"Guys, you're totally freaking me out." Summer said and shoved Chris' arm away from her shoulders. "I'm not jealous of them, why would I be?"

"Be-cause you're obviously still in love with Seth?" Chris asked and tilted his head.

Summer rolled her eyes once again. "Nuh-uh, I'm so not in love with him!" she exclaimed and emptied her cocktail with one huge last sip. She put the glass on the bar behind her and turned around to face her very annoying friends again.

"And could you please _finally_ stop telling me that I am? I'm getting sick of this."

Jenny and Chris shot each other two questioning glares but shrugged. Jenny put a hand on Summer's shoulder and smiled gently. "You're right, we're sorry. This is none of our business."

Summer pouted and nodded, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I miss Craig." She whined all of a sudden, the effects of the alcohol setting in.

Chris raised his eyebrows and reached in his pocket for a tissue that he handed Summer, even though she wasn't crying. And she definitely wasn't planning on it. Not on a night like this where she was supposed to celebrate the birthday of the person that meant the most to her.

When Summer caught herself with that thought, she brought a hand to her chest as if being in shock and cleared her throat, looking at Jenny. "I gotta pee." She stated and her face brightened again. "You gotta pee?"

Jenny grinned but shook her head. "No, you need to go alone." She joked and giggled. "Chris and I are gonna get us some new drinks while you're gone."

At the word "drinks" Summer's face lightened up even more and she nodded enthusiastically. "I'll be back in a sec!" she yelled and bounced away in the direction of the bathrooms, ignoring Seth and Amy who were still making out instead of getting drinks as they had announced a few minutes before.

When Summer was gone, Chris looked at Jenny with a quite amused look on his face. "This is gonna be some party." He said and turned around to the bar to order more drinks.

Jenny nodded and smiled contently to herself. Chris was right. This was gonna be some party.

* * *

"Vomiting is so not the way to party."

"Yeah, how gross is it to throw up in a place where everyone else can see?"

Seth frowned as he overheard this more or minder interesting discussion between two girls who had just passed him on their way out of the bathrooms.

He had been waiting for Amy for more than ten minutes now and she still hadn't come back from the bathroom.

She had been really drunk when she went there and Seth was afraid that the throwing up person in the bathrooms was her. He could have gone and checked on his girlfriend himself, but the "Windbreaker" was one of those few fancy discos in Chicago that had guarded bathroom entrances. As he thought about it, Seth realized how stupid it sounded to have a club with guarded bathroom doors but that was the way things went in the state of Illinois – strange.

So he needed to find some female person who could easily get access to the toilets – and of course the first person on Seth's mind was Summer. He almost stumbled over his feet as he tried to stand up from the bar stool he had been sitting on and winced when he felt a sharp pain in his knee. Getting drunk with a still not completely healthy knee might not have been the best idea, he thought. But firstly, it was too late to make it undone since he already was heavily drunk, and secondly, it was his birthday, so it was legitimate to get drunk.

The club had emptied a little and it was easier for Seth to find Summer laying half on top of Jenny one of the brown leather couches in one of the club's alcove, laughing her lungs out. She was obviously pretty drunk herself. Seth stumbled once again and bit his lip from another flash of pain that went through his leg, falling on the couch right next to Summer just before he might have stumbled once again.

Summer patted Seth's shoulder and wiped away some laughing tears. "Your birthday rocks!" she yelled and clapped with her hands to the rhythm of the music that was playing.

Seth nodded happily and rubbed his knee.

Summer noticed that and pointed out to Seth's hand. "Does it hurt?" she asked and crawled off from Jenny who stood up and went over to the bar with a stupid grin on her face that Summer fortunately didn't notice.

Seth pouted and nodded, still rubbing. "Turns out that getting drunk with a knee that's been in a cast for weeks is not a good idea." He stated and shook his head for emphasize.

Summer sniffed and pouted as well. Seth wasn't sure if she felt sorry for him or if she found the situation he was in amusing, but he didn't care.

Summer laid a hand on Seth's and tilted her head. "Wanna see a doc?" she asked worriedly.

Seth raised his eyebrows and grinned broadly. Summer using the word "doc" was a good indicator that she was really drunk. He shook his head. "Nah, not necessary. I have good pain killers around here." He said and pointed out to the bar and its dozens of bottles.

Summer shrugged and leant back. "Well, if you say so. It's your day, birthday boy." She said and wiggled her eyebrows.

Seth laughed and threw his head back, feeling a little dizzy. Suddenly the reason for him coming to Summer came back to his mind and he sat up straight, holding his forefinger in the air. "I need your help." He stated.

"Sure, what for?"

"You need to go to the bathroom." Seth said and nodded.

Summer frowned and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't get that."

Seth sighed and laughed. "Amy's been gone for ages now."

Summer shook her head. "Cohen, can you give me like, information that's actually related to the one you gave me before?"

Seth nodded and held up his forefinger right in front of Summer's nose. "I need you to check if she's throwing up."

Summer didn't know why, but this comment sealed the deal for her. She started to laugh uncontrollably, burying her head on Seth's shoulder during the process.

Seth couldn't help himself but to laugh along with her while Summer screamed from amusement on his shoulder. "God Cohen-" she yelled, but before she could say anything more another wave of laughter caught her and the spiral started all over again.

Seth giggled and looked down on the small head on his shoulder that was shaking from laughter. "Summer, you can't handle any alcohol." He stated. This comment made Summer stop laughing all of a sudden, and she shot Seth a serious glare.

Seth's eyes met Summer's and all of a sudden, both of them burst into hysterical laughter again.

Summer held her stomach and wiped away some tears as everyone around them stared at them.

"Co-cohen!" Summer stammered and suppressed some more laughter. "_You_ can't handle any alcohol! Remember that night when you got all drunk and made a somersault over the hood of your Mom's Range Rover?"

Seth seemed to remember and laughed even harder now. "How do you know that? You've been with Zach, that arrogant bitch of-"

A tiny and very familiar hand on his mouth kept Seth from talking any further. "You don't know anything about Zach!" she shouted and pouted a little, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I know he likes Superman." Seth said and hiccuped, holding his forefinger high in the air again.

Summer didn't know what was so funny about that comment, but she burst into another roll of laughter all over again, leaning back against the couch pillows and gasping for air. "Stop that Cohen!" she whimpered and held her stomach. "You make me need to pee."

Seth shook his head and looked around. "Speaking of peeing-" he said and stood up, still holding on to his knee, to look around the club for any sign of his girlfriend. "When are you gonna check on Amy?"

Summer emptied a bear bottle that was standing on a table in front of her and leant forward a little, her head feeling very dizzy all of a sudden. She inhaled deeply and looked up to Seth whose gaze was still wandering around the club. "Cohen, I think I need to get some fresh air." She said and stood up to make her way out of the club when she stumbled over her feet and almost lost her balance.

Just before she fell completely, Seth grabbed Summer under her arms and pulled her back up. Summer closed her eyes and smiled, stroking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Whoa, that was... thanks Cohen." She said and shook her head.

Seth smiled broadly and adjusted Summer on her feet so she was able to stand alone again. For a long moment, their eyes locked and they didn't do anything than staring at each other.

He had seen these beautiful bambi-brown eyes so many times before, but Seth had never seemed to realize how deep and warm they really were. He felt like diving into Summer's eyes right here and now, and he blinked twice to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. But it was reality. The most wonderful pair of eyes was really staring at him with so much intensity that it sent multiple shivers down his spine.

To Summer, looking into Seth's eyes felt like most wonderful thing on earth right at that moment. The only way she could describe how comfortable she felt whenever she looked into his chocolate-eyes that were surrounded by those long and thick lashes, was to say that looking into Seth's eyes almost felt like coming home.

The tension between them rose with every second, their glares intensifying more and more, the longing for each other almost overwhelming them.

And they couldn't help but to give in to the magnetic feeling that seemed to pull them towards each other, and the world around them faded out completely when their faces neared, and when their lips brushed, it felt like sparks were flying all around them. A shiver of long forgotten comfort went down Summer's spine as their lips fully met and Seth's tongue started to explore her mouth, setting free a million butterflies in both of their stomachs.

It was incredible how right this felt – and how obvious it was that both of them missed each other like hell. Seth's hands wandered up and down Summer's back until they finally reached her neck where they started to crawl it, just like they always used to when they had still been a couple. Seth knew that Summer loved it.

And Summer knew how much Seth loved her hands in his hair, playing with his curls while they were kissing, and that was exactly where her hands had been ending up, softly twisting some of Seth's hair around her fingers.

This felt so good, so damn good. Like the missing piece of a puzzle you've been searching for weeks was finally found. This was meant to be, _they_ were meant to be. Seth was sure about that now. And from the way Summer kissed him back, returning his kiss with so much intensity Seth knew that she felt the same.

After a little while, when both of them felt like suffocating, the broke apart, an awkward silence settling between them. Just like before the kiss their gazes didn't leave the others, but this time, the tension between them had increased – and not in a positive way.

Blinking twice, Summer cleared her throat and massaged her neck. "So..." she began and waited for Seth's reaction. The same folded his hands in front of his body and twiddled his thumbs. "So..." he replied, looking around the club insecurily.

"I need to check on Amy!" Summer exclaimed and jumped a little, remembering the reason why Seth had been visiting her in her little alcove.

Seth nodded enthusiastically and raised his forefinger once again. "Right!" he yelled and pointed to the bathroom entrance with his head. "It's this way."

Summer raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "I know that, Cohen." She snapped and made her way through the crowd in the direction of the bathroom doors, not looking back once while she was constantly cursing herself for letting a thing like this kiss happen. What devil had taken possession of her when she had allowed Seth to come so close to her?

Shaking her head to get rid of the memories of the kiss, Summer made her way through the club to the bathroom doors, giving the man who guarded the door a huge grin, and stepped inside. Finding Amy would hopefully take her mind off of things now.

* * *

As he watched Summer walking away, Seth took his head in his hands and cursed to himself through gritted teeth. "You... JACKASS!" he mumbled, shaking his head over and over again.

He slumped back onto the couch and leant his head back, still shocked by what had happened a few seconds ago. Why in all world had he permitted himself to get THAT close to Summer? She had just fallen, and he had grabbed her, two things that didn't normally require a kiss as a reward, but OF COURSE he had been stupid enough to let a thing like that happen.

It was ok that he didn't feel as happy with Amy as he had felt with Summer, but that didn't give him the right to ruin Summer's and Craig's relationship by a thoughtless thing like this goddamn kiss.

And just as he started another round of cursing due to his stupidity from a few moments before, Seth felt a familiar hand on his shoulder, and when he looked up he saw a very sick looking Amy in standing in front of him, her eyes all teary and her hair messed up.

She tilted her head and frowned, obviously from a headache that was coming up. "Come on, we go home." She mumbled and took Seth's hand, pulling him up to his feet.

Seth shook his head to get the situation with Summer from before out of his system and concentrated on finding any hints on Amy that she had been throwing up in the bathrooms, but he failed. His mind went back to Summer, no matter what he was trying to think about.

When Amy had almost pulled him to the exit, Seth spotted Summer sitting on the bar, her head propped in both her hands, and he twisted his hand to break free from Amy's grip.

Amy spun around and shot Seth an angry look. "What now?" she gnarled and narrowed her eyes. Seth sighed and shook his head. A drunken Amy was never fun, and a drunken Amy that had obviously been throwing up was even less entertaining.

He pointed with his head to the bar. "I just wanna say bye to Summer." He explained and put his hands on Amy's shoulders. "Stay here, I'll be back in a sec."

Amy rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically, but she didn't protest. "Make it quick." She said and leant against the wall.

Seth gave her a nervous smile and ran over to the bar where Summer still was, her position from before unchanged. He gently laid a hand on Summer's shoulder and she spun around, shooting him the same angry glare he had just received from Amy.

"What Cohen?"

Seth shifted from one foot to the other and bit his lip. "Iiii wanna apologize." He said.

Summer closed her eyes and sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "Cohen-"

"No, I really need to apologize. I shouldn't have let this happened, I shouldn't..." he paused and his gaze softened. "... have kissed you."

Summer nodded and pouted, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I shouldn't have kissed you back. This is all wrong." She said and hiccuped.

Seth nodded and looked down on his hands. "Can we talk tomorrow? Meet at the library or somewhere?" he asked nervously.

Summer sighed again and slowly nodded, her eyes closed. "Let's talk about that in class." She said and stood up, pointing to a corner of the club. "I need to find Jen..." she shyly looked into Seth's eyes as she made her way past him.

Seth held out his hand to try to stop Summer from leaving with this discussion still unfinished. "Summer..."

Summer turned around and suppressed a yawn, running a hand through her hair. "Happy Birthday, Cohen." She said and without waiting for a reaction she turned around again.

Before Seth could start chasing after her, he felt Amy's hand on his shoulder, spinning him around.

"We go now." Amy ordered in a tone that didn't allow any protest, and Seth didn't have any other choice than to follow his girlfriend, leaving the club with his feelings highly mixed up.

All the way home he cursed himself for what had happened earlier that night. And the last words that echoed in his mind when he closed his eyes to sleep were "Happy Birthday, Cohen."

And what a happy birthday it was.

* * *

_Next chapter: Be My Baby_


	10. Be My Baby

_A/N: Thanks so much for the awesome reviews on the last chapter! I'm glad you guys liked it! Today, Seth and Summer try to deal with the kiss… and Seth makes a mistake. We're nearing the climax of the story… in slow steps…Oh, and please don't hate me for the end of the chapter :(_

**Be My Baby**

Rrrrring.

Rrrrring.

Rrrrring.

"Hi you got the machine from... Summer Roberts... and Craig Matthews. Unfortunately we're not around... or we're just too lazy to get your call... so... you know how this works. Beeeep."

"Summer? Baby, are you there? Just wanted to check on ya, hear how the party went. Well, um... I'm busy all day so I guess I'll call you in the evening. I love you. Bye."

Summer scratched her head and winced from all the loud sounds around her. Couldn't answering machines be like... quiet?

She slowly opened her eyes but flinched when the bright sunlight almost made her go blind. Burying her head in her pillow, Summer recalled the things that had happened the night before – even though she didn't want to be reminded of them.

It was still a riddle to her why in all world she had permitted Seth to come so close to her – and why she hadn't stopped herself from... yeah, not stopping it. And having been drunk and completely alone didn't justify that this kiss had really happened.

But the worst thing was – despite feeling so bad about having done a thing like this, Summer remembered the kiss as one of the most wonderful things she had experienced since Seth and her had parted ways during their freshman year. It had just been so right, so perfect, it was almost scary.

Summer shook her head, feeling a huge headache coming up, and forced herself not to think of the kiss as a positive event. It was a bad thing, a girl that lived in a well-working relationship kissing a guy that also lived in a happy relationship. It was something you should forget about as fast as possible.

But Seth wanted to talk about it, today, in the library. Summer hadn't wanted this to be so huge, so she had told him they'd see each other during class, and he just had to live with that. Opening one eye Summer lifted her head a little to check the time, and she almost fell out of her bed when she saw that it was already one p.m. All her major classes had already happened, including English which she went to with Seth.

From the little adrenaline shot in her veins Summer jumped up and ran into the bathroom, not knowing exactly why she was hurrying, since she had missed everything important that day, including the meeting with Seth.

While she was brushing her teeth Summer wondered why Seth hadn't already called her because she had missed their English class, and she tapped over to the answering machine, hitting the "messages" button to check if there were any messages from Seth she hadn't heard because of her deep sleep.

Beep. "Summer? Baby, are you there? Just wanted to check on ya, hear how-" Summer interrupted the message and shook her head, checking if there were any other messages except the one Craig had spoken just a few minutes ago.

Beeep. "You-have-no-new-messages."

Summer frowned and shoved the toothbrush in her mouth absent-mindly, wondering where the hell Seth was, and why he hadn't already called her. It was just so untypical of him not to call her after she had missed one of their dates. What was if something happened to him on the way home?

Shaking her head energetically, Summer cursed herself for assuming the worst just because Seth hadn't called. Maybe he just wanted to avoid her, and if that was the reason, she really couldn't blame him. What had happened the night before was just way too embarrassing, and it had destroyed so much between them – that was at least what Summer thought.

Maybe he was online.

Summer went over to the desk and switched her laptop on, still brushing her teeth while waiting for the system to start. After what seemed like an eternity, Summer had started the internet and logged in her chatting program, her heart sinking a little when she saw that no one was there.

She leant back in her desk chair and nervously flipped the toothbrush around in her mouth, her head spinning. She wasn't sure if this was just a normal hangover or the worries she had about Seth, but she decided that she didn't like it at all, no matter why her head felt like being on a carousel.

There was just one thing left. Her cell phone. Jumping up from the desk chair, Summer went into the sleeping room again, searching through her purse she had had with her at the club the night before, and she was kind of relieved when she saw that she had three new text messages.

She went over to the bathroom, cleared her mouth from the toothpaste and went back into the sleeping room, sitting on the edge of the bed and flipping her cell phone open.

First message.

"Sum, the incredible happened. I met a guy, Casey. Been dating for a few weeks now and I'm so in love. Talk to u soon. Luv, Coop."

Summer shook her head and rolled her eyes. From all the moments to say hi in weeks Marissa had just chosen the worst. So she had a new boyfriend...

"Who cares?" Summer snapped and stared at her cell phone. That was just so typically Marissa Cooper. Talking about herself and not asking how the others were. It was only her, her, her, and Summer was just too sick of it, probably one of the reasons why Marissa and her had lost contact since their High School graduation.

Second message.

"Sum, never knew a hangover could be so terrible...how's yours? I'm dying and just wanted to say bye. So, bye :( See ya, Jen."

Summer laughed a little and shook her head. And that was so typically Jenny. Exaggerating whenever she could, but still in a cute and nice way. Summer sighed and decided to give her best friend a call later that day, when her state would be better than... well, dead, as Jenny called it.

Third message.

"Sorry that I wasn't there today. Knee hurts like hell. Twisted it last night. Went to the doctor's. We need to talk. Call you when home. Seth."

A weak smile crossed Summer's lips, and she was relieved that she hadn't been the only one who had been missing their meeting today. But the good feeling she had mixed with worry immediately when she read about Seth's knee and that he even had to see a doctor. There were some memories from the night before of Seth sitting on that leather couch next to her, rubbing his knee and saying something about getting drunk with freshly operated knees wasn't such a good idea or something. She didn't remember correctly thanks to the amount of alcohol that had been running through her system the night before.

Closing her eyes, Summer flipped her cell phone shut and fell back onto the bed. She sighed and shook her head.

"_We need to talk."_

Gosh, how formal that sounded. Were her fears really coming true and Seth's and her relationship would be ruined for, like ever, just because of one tiny, little kiss?

For the thousandth time since she had gotten home from the club, Summer grabbed a pillow and "argh"-ed into it as loud as she could, silently cursing herself and her weak willpower over and over again, even though she knew that that wouldn't change anything. But it helped her to bear everything better.

Just when Summer was about to start another roll of "argh"-ing the cell phone that was laying next to her started vibrating, and Summer jumped a little when she saw the caller ID.

"Cohen"

Blinking twice Summer sat up and ran a hand through her hair. At least he didn't choose to avoid her, and that was a good sign. Taking a deep breath, Summer flipped her cell phone open.

It was time to face the truth.

* * *

So that was what it felt like to turn 23. Dealing with the world's worst hangover, feeling dizzy from the Paracetamol against the pain that was in your knee with every step you took, having a girlfriend who didn't care about your state since she was sleeping like a stone since her drinking session the night before, and having a best friend you just kissed – with tongue. In her boyfriend's absence. 

Just because you couldn't control yourself. Just because she had looked so beautiful with her big brown eyes after you had caught her from falling. Just because you'd been wasted, with no control over what you were doing.

Seth sat on a bench in the middle of the campus near the main fountain, waiting for Summer to arrive so that they could talk about their "lip service" from the night before.

He felt like a wreck, and he was sure he even looked like it. His head was spinning, his knee was hurting, and his stomach rebelling. And every five minutes one of his stupid relatives would call him and wish him a happy birthday.

At least Seth had been wise enough not to tell his parents that he had twisted his knee once again, because if his mother ever found out about that she would've probably been jumping on the next best flight to Chicago, his little sister in tow, and would have visited him.

And just the mere imagination of this situation made Seth feel even more terrible than he already did. So he preferred to suffer in silence, just like a real man. Ryan would have been proud of him, of that he was sure.

"Cohen?"

A very familiar voice pulled Seth out of his little spiral of self-pity, and he looked up, shielding his eyes from the afternoon sun, to see Summer standing in front of him, looking probably just as wasted as he did. He forced a weak grin and motioned her to sit down next to him.

Summer sat down, kneading her purse in her hands, looking quite nervous. Seth gave her the best smile he could manage and nodded.

Summer cleared her throat and pointed out to Seth's knee. "Are you okay? What happened?" she asked worriedly.

Seth nodded. "Yeah yeah, I twisted it, and now there's this liquid running in..." he saw how Summer's face turned from worry into disgust, and he grinned. "Do you really wanna know?"

Summer swallowed and shook her head, her eyebrows raised. "Not in so much detail."

"Okay, I need to take pills to numb the pain, and I need to wear this pressure dressing to stabilise the joint." Seth explained. "So no big deal."

Summer nodded and started to drum on her purse with her fingers.

"So, about last night..." she said and started to massage her neck, a thing she always liked to do when she was nervous.

"We've made a big mistake – a huuuge mistake." Seth said and nodded to himself.

Summer bit her lip and shook her head yes. "True." She glanced up to Seth who stared into the distance. "I just... we were drunk and..."

"We shouldn't have done it." Seth replied, leaving no room for any other arguments. He noticed how harsh his answer had sounded and looked over to her. "I mean, it was just wrong." He added in a much softer tone.

Summer sighed and leant on the back of the bench, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "It was. And we should've stopped ourselves."

Seth nodded again and an awkward silence fell between them, leaving Summer nervous as hell because she still didn't know where they were standing now. Looking down on the floor, she noticed that Seth tapped with his foot, a clear sign that he was nervous as well.

A tiny laugh escaped Summer's throat and she shook her head. "Okay now." She said. "We've got two possibilities."

This caught Seth's attention and he looked her in the eyes again, the eyes that he could have drowned in if he wanted to.

"We either choose to let this thing come between us – you know, ruining our friendship, not talking to each other, those awkward silences..." Summer pointed from herself to Seth and back.

Seth's stare at her intensified. That sounded interesting. "Or?" he asked, moving closer to her.

Summer smiled a little and went on. "Or we just forget about it and try to go on like normal people. I mean we were drunk and we didn't know what we were doing..." she held up her forefinger. "Plus, it's not like we haven't done it before."

A smirk crossed Seth's lips and he looked away again, sighing. "And it was my birthday." He said. "It was your present."

Summer grinned. "Yeah, it was just a special present. One that only I'm allowed to give you." She sounded proud at the last comment she made. Well it was no wonder, Seth and her were best friends since High School, she was allowed to feel special for that.

"Except for Amy." Seth added and raised his forefinger.

Summer nodded and looked down on her knees. "Right. Except for Amy." She didn't even know why, but thinking about Seth having a new girlfriend felt like a knife being pushed through her heart – which was strange because it had never felt like that before.

"And except for Craig on your side, huh?" Seth asked and nudged her playfully in the ribs, not noticing the strange look on her face.

Summer was ticklish as hell when it came to her ribs and she squeaked as she felt Seth's fingers poking her. "COHEN, DON'T!"

But it was too late and Seth's fingers had already reached her whole torso, tickling the hell out of her. In a useless attempt to make Seth stop the tickling Summer reached for Seth's body as well but failed to tickle him back since she was laughing so much.

"Cohen, please!" she yelled and tried to shove him back.

When Seth saw that Summer was completely out of breath he let go of her eventually and leant back, sighing happily.

When Summer had gathered herself she shot Seth the angriest look she could manage and hit his thigh with her fist. "You-are-so-mean." She said and pouted, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Well Summer, you said you didn't want the kiss to come between us. And that's what friends do, they tickle each other." Seth stated and folded his hands behind his head.

Summer looked down to the floor and her gaze became serious again. "So the kiss is like forgiven and forgotten?" she asked, not daring to look into Seth's eyes.

Seth nodded enthusiastically. "Forgiven and forgotten. Let's just call it a brainless moment."

"I'm so glad we could manage this so easily. I was worrying sick last night that I might have lost you due to this." Summer said, her voice barely above a whisper. "And you're my best friend. I can't lose you."

A sweet smile crossed Seth's lips and he laid an arm around Summer's shoulder, pulling her close to him. "Summer." He lifted her chin with his hand. "You won't lose me. Never. I promise."

Summer looked up to him and gave him her warmest smile. "Thank you." She said and leant onto Seth's chest, closing her eyes. She inhaled the familiar scent of his aftershave and smiled again. This was feeling way too good for a woman who was in a relationship, but Summer couldn't help it. Maybe it was just PMS that made her so emotional, but she was sure that everything she felt for Seth was pure friendship... right?

A very familiar voice woke her up from her dreams.

"Well, look who's here, all cuddling!"

Seth and Summer both looked up, spotting Chris coming up to them, grinning broadly. As fast as she could Summer sat up and ran her fingers through her hair, and she watched Seth do the same.

"Hey Chris what'ya doin' on campus? I thought you were way over the studying stuff." Seth said and held out his hand for Chris to shake it.

"I'm here to see some people that are in different relationships making out." Chris said and grinned only more, his gaze wandering from Summer to Seth and back again.

Seth made a face to Chris and looked over to Summer who now sat very far away from him, obviously feeling very unease at the moment.

"Shut up." Seth said. "I'm not discussing this with you again."

"Oooh, bad mood?" Chris asked, amused by the situation.

"Yes." Seth replied. "I've told you like a million zillion times before that Summer and I are just friends. And I would highly appreciate it if you wouldn't make the same stupid jokes over and over again."

Chris held up his hands in apology, a little taken aback from Seth's harsh comment.

"Boy, I'm sorry if I hit a nerve here." He said and walked on. "Call me when you're in the mood for fun again." And with that, Chris was off, not turning back once.

Seth shook his head and let himself slump against the back of the bench, running a hand through his hair.

"He was just joking." Summer said all of a sudden.

Seth looked over to her and shook his head. "Yeah but he doesn't know when to stop. He has made this joke so often and he still doesn't get sick of it."

"You know him." Summer said in a weak attempt to jump in for Chris' defence.

"But still, Summer. Do I ever make jokes about him being gay? No. Because that would be just lame. And that's what his jokes about us are. Lame."

Summer shrugged and glanced at her watch. "If you say so. Listen, Cohen, I need to go. Meeting Jenny in a few."

Seth nodded and smiled at her. "I'm sorry for my rage blackout here."

Summer grinned and shook her head. "Cohen, you know as well as I do that you're not capable of having rage blackouts. It's my territory."

Smirking, Seth stood up as well. "Okay, you win." He said and placed a kiss on her cheek. "See you in class tomorrow?"

Summer nodded and smiled. "Sure. We need to figure out a presentation for our report. I want it to be good."

"Sugar, you're working with me, it just can't be bad."

Summer wrinkled her nose. "Too much confidence here."

Seth shrugged. "That's the way I am."

Summer waved and turned around. "Oh, shut up, ass." She said and winked at him.

Seth smiled back and nodded. "Whatever you say Summer."

And with that, both of them went their own ways again – Summer for the cantine to meet Jenny there and Seth for the elevated train station – still not able to get Chris' words from before out of his head.

Was there really more between Summer and him than just friendship? And was it ok that they had gotten over the kissing thing so easily? Or should they have discussed it more?

But Seth was convinced that the kiss didn't mean anything. After all, they didn't love each other and that took the seriousness of the issue away – right?

* * *

When Seth came home Amy awaited him, still in her underwear. She had obviously just woken up. She ran over to Seth and practically threw herself at him, crossing her legs around his waist, kissing him hard. "Weeeelcome home!" she sung and grinned broadly. 

Amy wasn't heavy, but heavy enough to make Seth's knee weak, and he slumped down on the floor, taking Amy with him. He bit the insides of his cheeks as a flash of pain shot through his leg, and he rested his head on the wall, closing his eyes and waiting for the pain to fade.

Amy's eyes widened and she took Seth's face in her hands. "Oh my gosh, what hurts?" she asked and tilted her head.

Seth still gritted his teeth with his eyes closed, and he shook his head. "Nothing." He said and forced himself to open his eyes again.

When he looked at Amy she had one of her eyebrows raised and her lips curled, a definite sign that she didn't believe him. "Right." She said.

Seth couldn't help but laugh, and he shook his head again. "I'm not good at acting strong, am I?" he asked and smirked.

Amy grinned broadly and softly stroked Seth's cheek. "I'm sorry baby, but you're not." She said and kissed him again. "Better now?" she asked when they pulled apart again, and Seth frowned. "Mmmmh, in fact, it's still hurting." He mumbled and pulled Amy closer to him, and pretty soon, the two of them lost themselves in a long passionate kiss that made Seth forget everything: the pain and even Summer, which was a surprise because Summer had been the only thing that had been on his mind ever since last night.

When they pulled apart, Amy smiled softly at Seth and tilted her head once again. "I bet it's better now." She said.

"Yeah." Seth nodded and his grin faded, his look wandering down his leg to his knee. "I twisted it last night." He explained. "Screwed it up again."

"Oh." Amy's frowned and she gently stroked Seth's knee. "So drinking wasn't the best idea, huh?" she asked, and Seth grinned, shaking his head. "Not really." He replied and sighed.

"But I have a present that'll make it better." Amy said and crawled into Seth's arms, resting her head on his chest.

"You do?" he asked and placed a kiss on her head. "I love presents."

Amy grinned broadly and sighed. "My sister send some photos of Tiffany. She's grown so much since last time we saw her, you wouldn't believe it." She said, a dreamy look on her face.

Seth smiled as well as he thought about Amy's little niece Tiffany. She was a really cute baby, and Amy was completely and totally in love with her. "Yeah, when they're that young they grow so fast, it's insane." He said. "When I think back of the time when Lilly was so small she needed new clothes like every week."

Amy grinned. "Seth?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"I think I'm ready."

Seth frowned and looked down on his girlfriend. "Ready for what?"

Amy sat up and stroked a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling insecurily at Seth. "I want one too."

Seth raised an eyebrow and shook his head, not able to follow the conversation that was going on.

"I want a baby." Amy said and nodded for emphasize. "I think we're both ready."

Seth's eyes widened twice their size and he jumped up. "Ouch! Damn it!" he shouted and held his knee as he shook his head, looking down on Amy. He leant onto the wall. "I think I might've heard you wrong..." he said and narrowed his eyes. "But I kinda heard you say that you wanted a baby."

Amy stood up as well and took Seth's hands in hers. "No, you've heard correctly..." she said and smiled. "Wouldn't that be fantastic? You, me, and a small little teeny tiny cute baby. We could have our own family!" she chimed and her cheeks brightened from excitement.

Seth shook his head in shock and brought a hand to Amy's forehead. Amy shoved his hand away and frowned. "What you're doing?"

"I was checking if you've got a fever or are in some kind of delirium that makes you say those things." He replied and Amy crossed her arms in front her chest.

"Stop joking Seth, I'm serious." She said.

Seth nodded, his eyes wide open. "So am I." he replied. "I mean having a baby? What devil took possession of you?"

Amy shot Seth an angry glare. "Nice. I'm serious, you assface." She snapped and made her way to the kitchen.

Seth laughed and went after her. "Amy, having a baby – now – is ridiculous! Neither of us has a college degree or a safe income – we couldn't give a baby what it deserves." There had to be some way to talk some sense into that woman.

Amy turned around and shook her head. "You know, it's not all about the money." She said and narrowed her eyes. "It's about love. And we both have so much love to give to a baby."

"Geez, that can't be true." Seth mumbled to himself and rolled his eyes. "Do you even listen to yourself? We're so NOT ready for a baby. Not in a million years." He looked around and searched for a possible hidden camera, in case his girlfriend was playing a mean joke on him. "I mean we hardly agree on what we're gonna have for dinner, how could we agree on important decision that would concern our child?"

Amy lowered her gaze and shook her head. "Fine." She snapped and continued her way to the kitchen. "Now I know that you don't love me."

Seth's eyes widened and he shook his head, desperate. He really was at a loss for words right now. "What?" he exclaimed. "What stupid fuck do you wanna say now?"

Chewing on her lower lip, Amy turned around and shrugged. "A baby is the coronation of love between two people. And you don't wanna have a baby with me. Which means that you don't love me."

Seth closed his eyes, hoping to wake up from this insane nightmare he was just having. There was only one possibility that had made Amy go crazy like that: she was still drunk from her little session last night. That was the only explanation he had. "Please Amy." He mumbled and took a few steps in her direction. "Just because I don't wanna have a baby with you doesn't mean that I don't love you." He paused and rolled his lips inward.

Amy's gaze softened all of a sudden and she blinked. "Really?"

Seth forced himself to nod. "Yeah." He said, and his heart ached as soon as he had confirmed her question.

All of a sudden, Amy went over to him and fell into his arms. "You really love me?" she asked, her voice full of hope. Had the moment she had waited for so long enough finally arrived?

Seth swallowed and closed his eyes, an image of Summer appearing in front of his inner eye as soon as his eyes were shut. Her smile was infectious, and she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. And the kiss from the night before had been... just paradise.

When Seth felt how Amy hugged him tighter his mind wandered back into reality again and he opened his eyes, sighing heavily. "I guess." He whispered, and in his mind, it was Summer he told the words. "I love you."

Amy squeaked as soon as Seth had said the words and she almost smothering him out of euphory. "Oh Seth." She said. "I love you too. I really love you."

Seth closed his eyes again to stop his head from spinning. All of a sudden he felt like throwing up. Was it from the painkillers he had recently taken or from his hangover? Or did he feel sick because he had just told Amy the biggest lie? He didn't love her. The realization of that came crushing down on him like an avalanche and he swallowed as Amy hugged him only tighter.

Had it been fair to tell Amy he loved her just to shut her up?

No, it hadn't.

But he didn't exactly tell Amy the words... he told them to Summer which had appeared in his head all of a sudden.

The more he thought about the past 24 hours, the sicker he got, and all of a sudden, Seth broke free from Amy's hug and ran into the bathroom, throwing up into the toilet. A few minutes later he leant back and sighed.

This birthday was getting better and better.

* * *

_Next chapter: Walking On The Water – someone saw the kiss… and Seth calls Ryan._


	11. Walking On The Water

_A/N: OMG guys thanks so much for those amazing reviews! They really flattered me, all of them! And I'm glad that you don't hate me for letting Seth tell "I love you" to Amy… _

_This chapter is dedicated to Dani. Everything that happens in it was her idea. The only thing I did was write it ;) I might update a lot sooner this time, sorry for the long hiatus!_

**Walking On The Water (dedicated to Dani)**

"Mmmmh, this IS California." Summer said and stretched on her deck chair while she looked at the cloudless sky and the sun that was shining down on her and her friends.

Next to her, she felt Jenny stretching too. "I can understand why you like it here." She said and yawned, rubbing her eyes. "But… I mean… this is all better in real California, isn't it?"

Now Summer opened her eyes fully again and turned her head, making a face to her best friend. "Great work, Jen. You just ruined my dream of home for me."

Jenny's eyes widened. "Why? What did I do?"

Summer made a face and lifted her sunglasses to have a better look on Jenny. "You just reminded me that we're in some silly indoor swimming pool in the middle of Chicago." Summer said and put her sunglasses back on her nose.

Jenny smiled and shook her head. This was so typically Summer. Even though she played like feeling good and at home in Chicago all the time, Jenny knew that deep down, Summer missed "her" California, as she always called it.

"And I'm so pale, it's embarrassing. I look like a ghost." Summer whimpered while examining her arms and legs. Jenny laughed and shook her head, pointing at herself. "Look at me, silly. I bet you've never been this pale before."

Summer raised an eyebrow and looked over to Jenny for the instant of a second before checking herself for tan and no tan again. "You're from Boise." She said with some dislike in her voice, her eyes never leaving her perfectly tanned body. Summer didn't live in California anymore, that was true, and as a consequence of that, she didn't go the beach anymore to work on her tan as she had always done it, but growing up in California for 18 years had definitely done its work on Summer's skin. She was always naturally a little more tanned than others. But obviously not tanned well enough for her own eyes.

"And being from Boise is so bad because..."

"Shut up, it's not bad. Well, it's not suspenseful either, but..." Summer paused and curled her lips when her examining eyes had reached her belly, which was way too pale for Summer's taste. In an theatrical attempt to seem pissed by her pale skin Summer threw her head back and watched the glass roof of the indoor pool, and the sun that was shining beyond it. How good it would be to be back in good old California by now...

"Summer?" Jenny's voice interrupted Summer's mind travel back to California and Summer looked at her friend again.

"What?"

"You wanted to tell me why it's bad to be from Boise." Jenny said, her eyebrows raised.

It took Summer some time to process what Jenny wanted from her, and when she finally understood, she shook her head energetically.

"Silly, I said it's not bad to be from Boise." She repeated. "But being from any other state than Florida or California is the best excuse to look as pale as you do."

"Sweet." Jenny replied and yawned, crossing her hands behind her head. "So then why's your good friend Seth so pale when he's from California?" she asked, her eyes teasing Summer.

Jenny saw how at the word "Seth", Summer jumped a little and stopped the permanent touching of the "too pale" skin parts of her body for a second. Smiling to herself, Jenny recalled the picture from the weekend before, when Chris and her had spotted Seth and Summer making out in the middle of the club.

Well, not really in the middle of the club, but they had been making out. And it had been a very long and very hot make out session. And even though Jenny had been drunk she had been able to witness it, the whole thing... from Summer falling and tripping over Seth over Seth catching her to them making out – and so had Chris. And the witnessing of this interaction had been one of the reasons why Chris and her had attracted Summer to this indoor pool on this sunny but still quite cold Wednesday afternoon.

"Well, Cohen is..." Summer paused and started to inspect her skin again, obviously searching for the right words. "...special." she finally said and smiled innocently at Jenny.

Jenny raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Special." She repeated and studied the reaction on Summer's face, which didn't lead her anywhere because right at that moment, Chris came walking up to the girls with three alcohol free cocktails in his hands, and Summer held her hands out to one of the cocktails, smiling.

Rolling her eyes at the lost opportunity to carefully check on Summer's thoughts Jenny reached out for the cocktails as well and took a big sip of hers.

"Aww thanks, Chris." Summer chimed and stirred around in the cocktail with her straw.

"Yes Chris, thanks." Jenny said and narrowed her eyes at Chris who shrugged innocently.

Chris smiled and crossed his legs, graciously sipping at his cocktail and obviously enjoying himself. "So, what are you girls talking about?" he asked and smiled at them, giving them his full attention.

"My skin is too pale." Summer said and pouted, looking down on herself for emphasize. "I look like a ghost and I'm not supposed to."

Chris squeezed Summer's arm and shook his head enthusiastically. "Honey..." he examined Summer from head to toe, "you're not looking like a ghost at all! You look amazing."

Summer smiled sweetly and found herself blushing a little. "Chris, you're so sweet."

At that comment, Chris' smile got only wider. "And everybody who doesn't know you could easily tell that you're a real Miss California."

Summer laughed and shook her head. "Sure they would. Because I have that written all over my face." She said and made a face that made Chris laugh. He raised his forefinger and pressed his cocktail into Jenny's hand who was staring at him like he was insane.

The two girls shot each other a questioning glare and watched Chris as he went over to their deck chair neighbor, made him look over to Summer and Jenny and pointed out to Summer. Raising an eyebrow, Summer watched as Chris and the guy he was talking to started to laugh all of a sudden, both staring at Summer and nodding.

"What the hell is he doing?" Jenny asked with her eyes wide open, unable to blink.

"I guess I don't wanna know." Summer replied, her gaze still glued to Chris and the boy.

After a few minutes, Chris shook the other guy's hand and came walking over to Summer and Jenny again, taking the cocktail from Jenny and taking a huge sip. "So I made a survey..." he started and emptied almost his whole cocktail after that with one huge gulp, "over there, and asked this guy where he thinks you're coming from."

Summer shook her head in disbelievement, her eyes big. "Uh-huh."

"And he said he thinks you're from California. Or you're coming right out of the tanning studio."

"Oh come on, Chris." Jenny said and sat up straight. "No way you asked this guy that."

Chris raised an eyebrow and tried to be offended, but this attempt didn't quite work out. "Fine, if you don't believe me..." he said and pouted.

Now Summer shook her head too and grinned. "Chris, due to all respect – but I doubt you asked this guy stuff about me. I mean he's pretty hot, but..."

"There's no "but". He's pretty hot and that's enough as an argument." Jenny completed Summer's sentence and smiled victoriously at Chris, who just shrugged and gave the girls an innocent smile "Okay, I might have asked him if he wants to go out sometime."

Jenny and Summer grinned at each other, and Jenny threw a fist in the air. "Knew it!" she yelled, proud of herself. "What did he say?"

"He said with any of you guys anytime... but with me... like never."

Summer raised an eyebrow. "And you think that's funny?"

Chris shrugged. "Why not? I mean he's just being honest."

Just when Summer was about to reply her bag that was sitting next to her deck chair on the floor started to vibrate, and she put her cocktail down to search for her cell phone. The caller ID told her that it was Craig who was calling, and she sighed a little, holding up the phone in the air. Jenny and Chris nodded and Summer left their little place for some privacy on the phone.

Jenny watched Summer leaving, and as soon as her best friend was out of earshot, she leant over to Chris with an conspirational look on her face.

"You ruined the perfect moment before." She mumbled through gritted teeth.

"What for?" Chris asked, and Jenny shook her head unnerved.

"I had her where I wanted her. She just started to talk about Seth when you showed up."

Chris' eyes widened and he sat closer to Jenny, grinning broadly. Everytime Chris sensed some good gossip he was always hooked for it.

"So what did she say?" he asked, his face shining like the face of a child on Christmas Day.

Jenny hit him in the arm and rolled her eyes. "Duh! Nothing! You came and ruined the moment!"

Chris opened his mouth to respond, but he didn't know what to say, so he just sat in front of Jenny with his mouth wide open.

Jenny rolled her eyes again. "Oh boy, great defense you have here." Ignoring that Chris was sticking out his tongue to her, she went on.

"So what are we gonna do? I NEED to talk to her about that kiss. It's killing me."

Chris snorted. "Tell me about it. This is eating me alive." He replied and nodded.

"So... what-are-we-gonna-do?" Jenny repeated, nearing her face to Chris'.

"One thing is sure. We can't just ask her. Or tell her we saw her. You know her and she would shut up completely." Chris explained and sighed, leaning back in his deck chair again.

"Maybe we should talk to Seth first." He said and yawned.

Jenny shook her head enthusiastically. "Never in a million years. I wanna hear it from her first. Seth is easier to crack, but getting the info out of Summer is like my new life-time-goal."

"Alright, and how are you gonna get it out of her?" Chris asked and Jenny just stared at him, blinking.

"Sounds like you've given your plan a lot thought." Chris said after a while. "My plan would be just to ask her."

"Ask her what?" When Chris heard Summer's voice he sat up straight all of a sudden, his eyes widened in shock.

Jenny grinned insecurily. "Ask you... if you... could get Chris another drink. I mean you're already up."

Summer raised one eyebrow, not really buying her friend's explanation. "Sure." She said and wandered off again.

Both Chris and Jenny stared after her in silence, each of them hanging on to their own thoughts.

Jenny sighed and sat up, propping her elbows on her knees. "So seriously... what do you think this kiss meant?"

Chris shrugged. "I've always been the one who said that they're the perfect couple. And that it's a riddle to me why they broke up in the first place."

Jenny nodded. "Summer doesn't love Craig." She stated.

"Yeah, try and tell her that. She's living in her own little world called "denial."" Chris answered and looked up to check if Summer was already on her way back.

"Have you talked to Seth lately?"

"What, you mean about him and Summer?" Chris asked, and Jenny nodded.

Chris laughed and shook his head. "Every time I even mention the names Seth and Summer in one sentence he kicks my ass. A few days ago I saw them hugging on the campus and I made some joke about them. I guess if Seth would've had a gun or something he would've shot me right away. He was so pissed."

Jenny nodded. "He's always that pissed when you talk to him about that topic. Which means..."

Chris smiled. "Which means that he knows we're right. And he doesn't wanna admit it."

Jenny grinned and held up her hand for Chris to high five it. "Exactly. We're so good."

Chris nodded and yawned. "That we are."

* * *

Meanwhile, just a few miles away, Seth sat in front of his laptop in his and Amy's apartment, trying desperately to get some homework and some research for his and Summer's report done. But every time he tried to concentrate his thoughts drifted off to his birthday, and the things that had happened back then.

Even though he and Summer had decided to be cool about the kiss, Seth still couldn't forget how wonderful and amazing this kiss had been. He had even dreamt about it at night – every night – since his birthday, and that was beginning to annoy him. He wasn't with Summer, he didn't love Summer – so why was he thinking about her all the time?

Seth stood up from his laptop to get himself something to drink when he stumbled over one of Amy's high heels, and he cursed to himself. Did this girl have to leave her stuff everywhere? Couldn't she just put her shoes back where they belonged? He rubbed his knee and proceeded to the kitchen, this time thinking about Amy and the stupid baby conversation she had masked as a "birthday present" for him. He was still wondering what devil had taken possession of her when she had told him that she wanted to have a baby.

Shaking his head, Seth had finally arrived at the refrigerator and was just about to take a bottle of water out of it when the telephone started to ring.

He sighed, rolling his eyes, and put the bottle down and went over to the counter where telephone sat.

"Hello?"

"Hey buddy, it's me."

Seth's face lightened up when he recognized Ryan's voice at the other end of the line, and he took his bottle and went into the living room, slumping down on the couch.

"Hey man, what's up? How are you?" he asked and took a sip of his water.

"I'm good, everything's fine. Kim and I... sorta..." Ryan paused. "We're having a baby."

Seth's eyes widened and he almost choked from his water. "What?" he exclaimed, still coughing.

"We're having a baby." Ryan repeated and Seth could practically feel how his brother grinned to himself at the moment.

Closing his eyes, Seth sighed. "Those babies are haunting me." He said and shook his head.

"Hey, glad that makes you happy." Ryan said sarcastically.

Seth sighed and opened his eyes again. "No, it's not that I'm not... happy for you." He said sincerely. He was happy for Ryan, as long as Ryan was happy too. And when Seth had visited them back in Newport Ryan and Kim had already told him that they were trying to get pregnant, so Kim's pregnancy wasn't really a surprise. "It's just that I had this baby discussion with Amy recently."

"You did? Wanna have one, too?" Ryan asked, surprised.

Seth shook his head energetically. "Nooooo. No way. Amy does, and when I told her I don't wanna have a baby yet she told me that I didn't love her."

"Ouch."

Seth nodded. "Yes man. Exactly."

"So you've got trouble in paradise, huh?"

Seth sighed. "Kind of. I bet if Amy found out that Summer and I kissed on my birthday party she would flip completely."

After Seth had given away this information, the other end of the line went dead silent, and Seth could practically see the shocked face Ryan had at that moment. He sighed again and nodded to himself. He even wondered why he had told Ryan about the kiss, but he guessed it had just slipped out. No, he had burned to talk to someone about the kiss, and with Ryan on the telephone, Seth knew he could tell him everything he felt about it. "Hey buddy, you're still there?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. Um... is that true? I mean, did you and Summer really...?" Ryan asked, hesitating.

"Yes, yes, Ryan, we did. And I can't get her – it – the kiss – out of my head. I'm even dreaming of it, man." Seth replied. He immediately felt kind of bad that he had switched the subject of Ryan's call to himself, but after so many years of being brothers with Ryan Seth was sure that Ryan didn't mind, better said, that Ryan had expected him to talk about himself.

At the other end of the line, Ryan raised his eyebrows. "Well..." he paused. "Well, I mean, how? Why?"

Seth took another sip of his water and nodded. "Good question. See, we were both like, really drunk. And Amy had gone to the bathroom, and she had been away for like, veeeeery long. And this club has those guarded bathroom entrances, and I couldn't go check on her. And so I needed someone who could go check on Amy and see if she was okay."

"And the first person you had in mind for that was Summer." Ryan concluded and Seth nodded enthusiastically.

"Exactly. So I went to search Summer to ask her, and we kind of got lost in a conversation, and after a while I remembered why I came to Summer in the first place. And when she stood up to check on Amy she stumbled, I caught her – and we kissed."

Ryan sighed at the other end of the line and inhaled. "Well, so... did any of you try to end it?" he asked.

Seth hesitated. "Not really. No." He replied and shook his head. "But hey, it didn't mean anything, I mean we were really drunk, and it sort of happened. Accidentally."

"Yeah, no, sure." Ryan answered, and Seth could sense that his brother didn't believe him.

"What? You think there's more to it?" Seth snapped in a very harsh voice. "Sorry."

"I'm used to it." Ryan replied and laughed a little. "But yeah, man, I mean... you've always loved her and... I don't know. She was with you at your granddad's funeral, you still haven't removed her photos and drawings from your old room... and whenever we talk on the phone you always tell me what she did recently or what she said. And now, with the kiss..."

These words left Seth speechless. He had never heard Ryan say so many things in a row, and he didn't know what was harder to process right now – Ryan's speech or the fact that he had told him all the things Seth always tried to shove away from him as best as he could. Or the things he considered as not so spectacular as the rest of his friends.

"Ryan, I don't love her." He said and sighed.

"I never mentioned the word love." Ryan replied and Seth blushed. That was true. He laughed insecurily and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, but it's good to know that I don't, huh?" he asked and giggled.

"Sure." Ryan said and grinned to himself. "Except that you do."

Seth made a face and winced. "Wha-what? I mean... Ryan... what?"

"Come on, buddy, you've never stopped loving her. And I'm still trying to find out why you're with Amy."

Seth shook his head and frowned, laughing insecurily. "Wha- I mean, this is ridiculous. This is... I'm with Amy."

"Yeah, I know that but that doesn't change the fact that you're still in love with Summer."

Seth jumped up and started to pace the room hastily. "Buddy, no. I'm not. Okay? We're just friends. Friends. You understand?"

Ryan sighed. "Yeah, whatever you say, buddy. Listen, I gotta go. Kim has her first ultrasound."

Seth stuck out his tongue and made a face. "Yeah man, have fun." He said and hung up on Ryan without giving him the chance to say goodbye.

Afterwards he threw the telephone receiver on the couch, feeling frustrated. How come that the whole world suddenly knew better than him how he felt for Summer? He didn't love her, he was sure of that. He didn't love her.

Shaking his head, Seth went over to his laptop and closed his eyes while slumping down on his desk chair, sighing, repeating his "I don't love her" mantra over and over again. When he opened his eyes, he saw that while he had been away, his screensaver had started to work.

It was a slide show of pictures he had made, mostly pictures of his High School days with Ryan, Marissa and Summer. There were only some pictures of only him and Summer, and Seth bit the insides of his cheeks and shook his head.

He hated it when Ryan was right.

* * *

"I'm starving." Summer announced to Chris and Jenny who were each laying at one of her sides. Raising an arm, she made a face and sighed. "And I'm still pale."

Jenny grinned and opened her eyes, sitting up and looking at Chris who did the same. "Something tells me we should get something to eat." She said.

Chris giggled. "What could that be?" he asked and pretended to figure out who Jenny was talking about.

Summer was still laying on her back and rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. "Funny guys." She said and sat up too. "Let's go." Without waiting for any of her friends to follow her, Summer proceeded towards the pool bar where she sat down on one of the chairs.

Jenny shot Chris a meaningful look before getting up. The two of them had decided to try to get the information about the kiss and, most important, what the kiss had meant from their friend before they left the indoor pool. And since it was already evening they ran out of time.

After a while both Chris and Jenny joined Summer at the bar, and a few minutes later each of them had their food and drinks in front of them. Chewing on her sandwich, Summer scanned the people that were swimming and smiled contently. "I just wanted to tell you guys that it was really funny today." She said, and Chris and Jenny smiled proudly.

"I mean, it still isn't California, but it's a start." Summer added and took another bite of her sandwich.

"At least we were able to take your mind off of studying today. You've turned into such a bookworm lately." Chris said and nodded.

Summer made a face and shrugged. "Well, I'm gonna have an A plus degree…" she glanced over at Jenny who busied herself with her soft drink. "Unlike other people." she added.

Jenny looked up and smiled innocently. "Life's not all about degrees and grades and stuff." She said. "It's about love."

Summer raised an eyebrow. "And that coming from a girl who changes her lovers every two weeks."

Jenny narrowed her eyes. "It's not my fault if the guys I end up with are stupid idiots."

Summer laughed and nodded. "You seem to have a magnetic effect on such geeks."

Jenny raised her forefinger and smiled proudly. "But! I didn't have a lover in four weeks, which is a new record for me!"

Chris and Summer laughed and Jenny shrugged. "It IS a new record." She mumbled and looked at Chris with a conspirational look on her face. "And what about you?" she asked, and Summer and Chris stopped their laughing abruptly. "Have YOU kissed anyone recently?"

Chris pointed to himself. "Me?"

Jenny nodded and raised her eyebrows, smiling.

Chris glanced over to Summer who looked at him with an expecting look on her face and he felt himself blushing. "Um…" he looked down on his plate. "There's this hot guy… in the bakery across your library…" he stammered and Jenny and Summer shrieked and clapped their hands simultaneously.

"Oh my God you don't mean that gothic freak with the piercings all over his face?" Summer squeaked and wiped away her laughing tears.

Chris looked up, ashamed. "Yes, I mean that guy."

Jenny and Summer looked at each other, trying hard to suppress their giggles. "Seriously Chris, from all the guys you've ever kissed or dated or whatever this is the… most extreme one." Summer said and grinned broadly.

Chris stuck out his tongue and narrowed his eyes. "Really?" he asked, trying to sound offended.

Summer nodded. "Really."

Chris shook his head and giggled, taking a bite from his sandwich. "And what about you?" he asked and looked at Summer who didn't quite seem to understand what he wanted from her. "Have YOU kissed anyone recently?"

Summer's eyes widened and she felt her cheeks redden from embarrassment. It wasn't possible that Chris or Jenny had seen Seth and her kissing, was it? Clearing her throat, she laughed insecurily. "What-what do you mean, have I kissed anyone recently?"

Jenny leant over the table to be closer to Summer and smiled. "He wants to know who you kissed in the past few days."

"Duh." Summer replied and made a face. "Really? I wouldn't have known that, thanks."

Jenny stuck out her tongue and smiled contently. "So what now? Have you kissed anyone or not?"

Summer shook her head, her eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped and threw her sandwich on her plate angrily. "I've kissed Craig, who else should I have kissed?"

When Jenny and Chris didn't answer, she added, "He's my boyfriend. I don't kiss anyone else."

Raising her eyebrows, Jenny moved closer to Summer. "Are you sure about that?" she asked and winked.

Summer shook her head. She still couldn't believe the ridiculousness of that conversation. "Of course I'm sure! I've got no one else!" she replied and looked around when she realized that her voice was three times higher than usual to check if people were staring at her and her friends.

Jenny nodded and grinned. She leant back in her chair and sighed contently, examining her arms. "It looked different when you kissed Seth in the club at his birthday party." She said as casual as she could and watched how Summer's face turned pale and her eyes grew wide.

As soon as Jenny had said the words Summer's blood froze, and she looked to Chris who wore the same stupid smile than Jenny, shaking her head. From the way Chris looked at her she knew that Chris had seen the kiss too, and never before in her life Summer had felt so trapped in a situation like right now.

She swallowed. "You're crazy." She said and took a huge sip from her drink. Maybe denial would help getting her insane friends' minds off of that kiss.

Jenny shook her head, her long ponytail swinging back and forth as she did so. "I'm just talking about the things I saw."

Summer shook her head and stared into the distance, her arms crossed in front of her chest. After a while, she hit Chris in the arm. "And you don't have to say anything to that, or what?"

Chris blinked and pressed his lips together. "Well, sweetie, I saw it too." He said and took Summer's hand to pat it.

Summer shoved his hand away and narrowed her eyes. "How could you have seen it? We were in that alcove, and we were almost alone."

Jenny clapped her hands. "So you admit it! Ha!" she yelled and made a little victory dance on her chair.

Summer blushed and her heart started to race. So they had seen it. Her little make out with Seth – which meant nothing, of course – had been seen by the two people who Summer had wanted to keep it from the most. Rubbing her thighs, Summer bit her lip and shook her head. "Fine then. You saw it." She said and looked up. "But it was no big deal!" she yelled and lowered her head.

"It didn't mean anything." She added in a low voice.

Jenny and Chris shot each other a meaningful look. "Sure, it didn't." Jenny said and watched how Summer fought the urge to stand up and walk away from their discussion.

Summer looked up again, the paleness in her face turning into an angry red. "It didn't mean anything." She repeated through gritted teeth and made a fist. "It didn't mean anything because I don't love him."

Chris smiled. "No one talks about love, honey." He said and softly stroked Summer's arm.

Summer closed her eyes and counted to three to kill some of the fury that was inside of her. She shoved Chris' hand away once again and stood up. "Perfect." She snapped. "Neither do I." And with that, she turned around to leave.

Jenny reached out for Summer to stop her. They couldn't leave this conversation unfinished. "Summer, wait, we were just wondering what that kiss was about, and-"

"It's okay, Jen." Summer answered and took a few more steps away from her friends. "I need to get home anways. You know, study for the finals and stuff." She said and shrugged in apology.

Shaking her head, Jenny looked over to Chris who just stared at Summer with his eyes wide open, obviously not willing to believe that Summer was just about to run away. All of a sudden, Summer's voice cut through the silence and Jenny looked over to her best friend.

"It didn't mean anything." Summer repeated and shot Jenny a meaningful look. "Remember that." After that announcement, she went over to their deck chairs and grabbed her bag and towel, ready to leave the indoor pool as fast as she could.

When she had proceeded to the shower area, she leant onto a wall and sighed. Wasn't it just possible for her so-called friends to leave her alone with that Seth issue just for once? Did they always have to tease her like they had today? Okay, so they had seen them kissing, but what was the big deal about it? Seth and Summer had decided to be cool about it, so why couldn't everyone else?

It was nothing special, and she didn't love Seth. She had been drunk, and she had stumbled, and she had missed Craig – and her brain hadn't been working that day, so the kiss was a complete accident.

Shaking her head, Summer stepped inside the shower room and tried to get this ridiculous conversation with her friends out of her head.

* * *

At the pool bar, a very content Jenny and Chris were just finishing their lunch after Summer had stormed off, both happy smiles on their faces.

"I told you." Jenny said triumphantly and grinned. "I told you she's still in love with him."

Chris nodded. "I told YOU." He said and Jenny raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe, but it was me who got the information out of her. You were just sitting around and staring at the two of us like an idiot." Jenny replied and took the last bite of her sandwich when she saw how Chris stuck out his tongue towards her.

"Have you seen how she blushed when she realized that we saw her?" Chris asked and smiled as he recalled the astonished look on Summer's face, and Jenny nodded enthusiastically. "Hell yes, I did." She leant back and stretched. "Boy this feels so good, I fell actually bad about it."

"Bad about what?" Chris asked.

"Bad that we made her run right into our little trap. I mean it could be that we really made her angry."

Chris shrugged. "I guess she'll just have to live with that. Our goal is logical right now."

Jenny smirked and nodded. "It is. Seth and Summer belong together. And if they can't realize that on their own, we might need to help them with that."

* * *

_Next chapter: 4 Days Due - more problems lie ahead..._


	12. 4 Days Due

_A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for the reviews on the latest chapter! I'm glad that those who reviewed liked it. Things are getting crazier and closer to the climax with every chapter now… I hope you like this one too, and please review, even if it's just a few words… thanks!_

**4 Days Due**

"Ooouch! Damn it!" Seth yelled as he tried to shave his face by hand. He had never been able to shave his face without his electrical razor, but now that Amy had dropped it into the bathtub a few days ago, he didn't have any other choice. Of course he could have gone and get the razor fixed, but there was just too much on his mind these days than caring for any of such trivial things.

He reached out for a Kleenex and pressed it on his cheek, trying to stop the tiny line of blood that was running down his face. He was so concentrated on cleaning the cut that he didn't notice Amy who came into the bathroom, smiling broadly.

Only as she hugged him from behind Seth jumped a little, surprised by her unusual good mood. Amy had never been a morning person, let alone a smiling person when she had just got up, but whatever it was that made her that happy must have been huge.

She placed a gentle kiss on his neck and started to massage his back, nibbling on his right earlap as she did so. "Ooooh, a little tense here," she said and grinned, "Let me make you relaxed."

Seth frowned and softly pushed Amy away. "Amy, I have a class in twenty minutes." He said as nice as he could at the moment. He was really not in the mood for any romantic games.

Amy pouted a little but didn't stop looking happy. She turned Seth around and placed sweet kisses on his cheeks. "Don't – be – such – a – geek." She said and stroked his neck with her fingers, a thing she knew that he couldn't resist.

The touch of Amy's warm fingers on his neck sent shivers down Seth's spine, and he couldn't help the goosebumps that were starting to appear on his arms. After all, he was just a man, and if a woman touched him at the "right" places he found it hard to resist.

As Amy proceeded from kissing his face to kissing his chest, he moaned a little and closed his eyes. He knew that he needed to stop this thing now, otherwise he would forget going to class.

"Mh... Amy..."

Amy stopped and looked up at him, giving him an innocent smile. "What?"

Seth grinned and cupped Amy's face in his hands. "I really need to go to class."

Amy shook her head, moving her hands from Seth's neck down his back until she let them rest on his butt, her touch almost driving him crazy.

"You really need to go?" she asked and before he could answer, her lips were already on his, her tongue exploring his mouth. And Seth knew that this was it. His brain told him to stop the kissing now, and to be pissed by Amy, just like he was used to. After all, he had just discovered that his love belonged to another woman.

But when Amy backed away a few inches and took her top off Seth knew that it was too late for him. Going to class was officially cancelled.

* * *

Summer sat in the auditorium, nervously drumming on the table in front of her with her fingers, glancing back to the entrance from time to time in the hope to finally see Seth coming through it.

She knew that if he missed their report today she would make sure that he wouldn't live to see his 24th birthday. The English grade was one of the most important grades that Summer needed, and she would never forgive Seth if he ruined her the A she was about to get.

Her glance went back to the huge clock that was on the wall opposite of her, and she shivered a little when she saw that class was about to begin in less than two minutes. Great. This was just great. The auditorium was full of students now, but the one she really needed was nowhere to be seen.

Summer opened the folder in front of her to get her mind off the time, which was rapidly running out, and went through her part of the report again, memorizing all of the important stuff she needed to know.

When she saw the notes Seth had scribbled down on the sheets, she turned around towards the entrance doors again and sighed angrily. This couldn't be true. He wouldn't dare missing their report today.

But as Professor Miller entered the room and closed the doors behind him, she was almost sure that Seth wouldn't come anymore. Summer shook her head and tried to suppress the fury that was slowly rising inside of her. Well, he still had some time, Professor Miller would talk a little at the beginning and introduce her and Seth's report topic until they needed to start.

Summer cleared her throat although she didn't know why and straightened her back, counting the seconds until she was ready to go and kill Seth Cohen – if he didn't show up, respectively. He still had some time and she hoped for him and his family that he took the possibility of staying alive instead of being murdered by her.

Professor Miller clapped his hands and watched as everyone took their seats, and Summer began to play with a strand of her hair nervously.

"Good morning, everyone." Professor Miller said and put his glasses on his nose, checking the report list that was laying in front of him.

"So today's the time for another report. It's an analysis of stylistic devices in Shakespeare's biggest dramas... um... Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and SOME TITLES." Professor Miller started to browse his folder and made some notes into it.

Now Summer started to knead her hands in her lap, turning around to face the entrance. Where the hell was Seth?

"The report is gonna be held by Summer Roberts and Seth Cohen." Professor Miller said and stepped aside to enable the two students to spread their stuff on the desk. Summer glanced around one more time, shook her head angrily and grabbed her stuff, walking towards the front of the auditoriumas graciously as anyone could be in a situation like that.

She shot Professor Miller an excusing look and cleared her throat, spreading her notes in front of her. "So... Seth..." Summer paused and glanced towards the door again. Now was his last chance to save his life. Because if he didn't show up now, Summer would kill him with her own hands. She slowly counted to three and closed her eyes. When she didn't spot Seth as she opened her eyes again, she went on.

"So Seth decided not to show up today, and that's why I can only give you my half of the report..." Summer glared over to Professor Miller whose gaze had darkened as she had finished the sentence. She nervously massaged her neck and sighed again, looking up towards the other students.

"Um, and unfortunately we didn't split the report in two halves, but we decided to divide it into paragraphs. So it's only pieces I can offer you... yeah, I guess I'll just start."

Summer did her best to hide her embarrassment and fury that took possession of her with every second that passed.

Seth would have to pay for this.

* * *

Women always smelled so good, like oranges or cherries or something. Amy smelled like strawberrys today. Or something similar. Seth couldn't define the smell, he just knew that he liked it very much. Especially now that his face was buried into Amy's dark blonde curls, and the exotic smell wandered up his nose.

One of Amy's hand was in Seth's hair, twisting some of his curls around her fingers, the other stroked his bare upper arm, and her head rested on his chest. Amy wore a content smile on her face and lifted her head to look Seth straight into the eyes. "I love you." She whispered and placed a gentle kiss on Seth's lips who replied what she had just said with a smile.

"I know." He said and closed his eyes.

Amy giggled a little and made a slight pout. "Don't you love me too?" she asked and winked at him.

Seth just smiled and sighed. That was the best reaction he could manage now, and she knew that. And his little "I love you" confession from a few weeks ago hadn't changed that.

Suddenly, Amy's gaze became more serious and she sat up, pulling the blanket over her upper body.

Seth noticed the sudden mood swing and tilted his head. "Something wrong?" he asked.

Amy bit her lip and she looked down at the blanket. After a few seconds, she looked up again and grinned broadly.

"I'm four days due." She squeaked and grinned broadly, showing Seth all of her perfectly white teeth.

At this news, Seth's jaw dropped and he felt his blood changing from hot to cold within seconds. "What... you...?" he stammered, pointing towards Amy with his forefinger.

All of a sudden, Amy's face darkened and she shook her head angrily. "Don't be too enthusiastic." She snapped and grabbed her shirt from the floor, pulling it over her head.

Seth blinked twice and sighed, shaking his head. "Did you take a test?" he asked as he watched Amy pulling her hair into a bun in front of the bedroom mirror.

Amy spun around and shot him a look that could kill. "Not yet." She said and turned around again, focusing her attention to her image in the mirror.

Seth swallowed and summarized his thoughts. "So that means that you're probably not pregnant, right?"

Amy's arms fell down next to her sides and she sighed. "Great that you're just as happy as I am. I thought you wanted to have a baby too." She said.

Now Seth rose from the bed and walked over to be closer to her, giving her a serious look. "I never said that." He stated and shook his head for emphasize.

Amy spun around again with her eyes widened twice their normal size. "You never said you didn't want a baby, either!" she yelled, the vein on her forehead pulsating.

"Well maybe that's because the conversation never came to an end. Remember my litte puking attack that interrupted us?" Seth was now angry as well, and he didn't make any effort to hide it.

Amy rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, so you drank too much on your birthday and threw up. Not the best reason to NOT have a baby." She scoffed.

"Let this freaking baby thing be." Seth replied through gritted teeth. He didn't have anything to say against a fight between Amy and him, but the way Amy tried to force on him a baby was just too much.

Amy laughed out loud and threw her head back, staring towards the ceiling. "Oh, come on. This "freaking" baby is what this is all about!" she shouted angrily.

Seth shook his head and turned around to head for the door. It didn't make any sense to try and have a serious discussion with Amy about that issue. All of a sudden, Amy's voice made him stop all the way again.

"Great, running away's always gonna solve everything. But you might have to get used to the fact we're going to have a baby." She said, almost triumphantly, and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Seth turned around again and shook his head. "Take a test. I'm gonna get used to that issue when you prove it."

Just as Amy was about to reply, the shrill sound of Seth's cell phone interrupted her from saying any more mean things. She ran over to the nightstand where the cell phone was, tossed it open and yelled an angry "yeah" in it.

A few seconds later Amy's gaze darkened even more, if that was even possible, and she threw the phone over to Seth who just managed to catch it before it hit the floor.

"She always gets the worst moment." Amy snapped before heading for the bedroom door, slamming it behind her.

Seth closed his eyes for a short moment, trying to calm down a little. When his pulse had slowed down a little bit, he put the phone up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Where the HELL have you been?" Summer's voice was ten times higher than usual, and Seth needed to hold the receiver away from his ear a little to not suffer from a serious tinnitus.

"Hello to you too, Summer." He replied, the sarcasm in his voice definitely hearable.

"Save the niceties, jackass." Summer gnarled. "You humiliated me in front of the whole English class."

It was only then that Seth remembered the report he and Summer had to do that day. When the realization of that hit him, he closed his eyes and leant back against the wall.

"God, Summer, I'm so-"

"Don't even try to apologize." Summer interrupted him. "If you want to throw away your good grades, go ahead, but I swear if I ever have to see you again you'll pay for it. And I mean like really pay for it, as in me hurting certain areas of your body you might need to produce children later."

An ironical laugh escaped Seth's lips. What a nice reference to the conversation Amy and he had just _not_ finished.

"Oh, you think that's funny?" Summer asked in a shocked tone. "We'll see how funny this'll seem to you when your little friend down there has died."

"Summer-"

"Shut the hell up, Cohen. You and I are through, unless you don't think of a good apology. Like really good." Summer snapped and didn't give Seth any chance to defend himself.

She paused a little and went right on. "Oh, and just so you know, you ruined my average for English, like, completely. Thanks to your non-presence I dropped from a straight A to a C+. And if it hadn't been for me trying to tell the people your part of the report as well, Professor Miller would have given you an F. But thanks to me you got a D. I hope you're proud of yourself." And without any other comment, Summer hung up, leaving Seth feeling confused and incredibly sorry.

He knew very well how important Summer's English grade was to her, and just because he had been offered some sex in the morning he had completely forgotten about their report, which, by the way, was from a huge importance of his final grades as well.

Seth sunk down on the wall to the floor, pulled his legs to his chest and propped his head on his knees, wondering what he had done to deserve the hositility that had been directed towards him by the two women within the space of 5 minutes.

* * *

Summer threw the receiver of her phone on the living room couch and fell back into the pillows, her arms crossed and her gaze ready to kill. And as if the C+ and Seth's absence from English today hadn't been enough to kill her good mood, Craig had given her a voicemail that he needed to stay in Phoenix for two more days. And Summer knew that she couldn't call Jenny at that time of the day, because she was working at the college's Caribou Coffee in the afternoons. And Chris was probably making out with some random guy in his apartment. So she didn't have the possibility to share her fury with any other person, and that made her only angrier.

What was it about that stupid people that called themselves as her friends?

Summer's gaze lightened up a bit as she remembered that there was still one "friend" – if you could call her that – left she could talk to. So she ran over to the computer, switched it on and waited until she could start the Internet Explorer.

She started her chatting program and checked if her last ray of hope that was living in Honolulu at the moment was online. But she had been coming to the conclusion that this wasn't her lucky day a few moments before, and just as a confirmation of that, no one she could talk to was online. Marissa was at work, obviously, like anybody else she knew.

Summer was just about to switch the computer off when a very familiar name logged itself in. She raised an eyebrow as a new telegram appeared on her screen, and she silently cursed herself for not having reacted fast enough to log herself out of the chatting program.

_Cpt. Oats:_ I'm an ass.

Summer sighed and couldn't help but smile. At least he knew the facts. And even if her brain told her to ignore him, her fingers wouldn't let her, and faster than she knew, her reply had been posted.

_Princess Sparkle:_ Knowing your faults is the first step towards curing them.

_Cpt. Oats:_ Summer?

_Princess Sparkle:_ What?

_Cpt. Oats:_ Can you forgive me?

Summer closed her eyes and shook her head. How did he do it that she couldn't be angry at him for more than fifteen minutes?

_Princess Sparkle:_ I'm really mad at you, Cohen. You ruined my grade. And you know how important this was to me.

For a long time, Seth didn't write anything back and Summer was just about to close the telegram and start a new round of wanting to kill Seth Cohen when his answer appeared on her screen.

_Cpt. Oats:_ I just talked to Professor Miller.

Summer raised an eyebrow, wondering what he wanted to tell her with that piece of information.

_Princess Sparkle:_ So?

_Cpt. Oats:_ He gives us another shot. And we don't have to change the topic of the report if I do some extra work. That means you just have to tell them your stuff again.

A sweet smile crossed Summer's lips and a comfortable warmth started to fill her heart.

_Princess Sparkle:_ You're serious?

_Cpt. Oats:_ Nod.

Even though Seth couldn't see it, Summer lowered her gaze and grinned to herself. He was just too sweet to be mad at. At least when he offered her such a good deal to keep her A.

_Princess Sparkle:_ Thank you, Cohen.

_Cpt. Oats:_ That was the least I could do.

_Princess Sparkle:_ Well, that's true. Tell me something.

_Cpt. Oats:_ Whatever you wanna know.

_Princess Sparkle:_ Why did you miss class today?

Again, there was a really long pause before Seth's answer appeared, and the moment she had posted her question Summer knew she didn't want to know the answer to it.

_Cpt. Oats:_ I was busy.

Summer laughed. Well, that was how you could call it, too.

_Princess Sparkle:_ Tell Amy to keep you busy during _her_ classes.

_Cpt. Oats:_ I guess that problem solved itself today.

Summer frowned and tilted her head a little as she tried to understand what Seth was trying to tell her.

_Princess Sparkle:_ Trouble in paradise?

_Cpt. Oats:_ Kind of. Can we...

Summer tapped on the keys of her laptop nervously, without pressing one of them. Seth really knew how to create suspense during such a normal thing like a chat.

_Princess Sparkle:_ Are you still alive?

_Cpt. Oats:_ Yeah I am. Forget what I just said. It doesn't matter.

Summer frowned. That was a major mood swing on Seth's part.

_Princess Sparkle:_ What's wrong, Cohen?

_Cpt. Oats:_ Listen, I need to go to the library. Find some more stuff about stylistic devices in Shakespeare's dramas. See you round?

_Cpt. Oats had logged off._

Before Summer could type an answer, Seth was already gone, leaving her wondering what was wrong with him this time. Maybe a thing about his parents? About Lilly? And what had been happening between him and Amy?

Even if Summer didn't want to admit it, but it almost killed her that she didn't know what was going on with Seth – part out of curiosity, part out of solicitude.

She bit her lip and stared at the last message Seth had sent her. He had told her he needed to go to the library. For the second time today, Summer cursed herself as she turned the computer off and grabbed her favorite pair of flip flops, her keys and her purse, and headed out for the library to find Seth.

He still meant too much to her to not go and check if he was ok. In fact, he meant way too much to her – but Summer wasn't ready yet to admit that to herself.

* * *

_Next chapter: The Trouble With Love – Seth finally realizes he needs to make the first step._


	13. The Trouble With Love

_A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for your overwhelming comments on the last chapter! A special thanks to the best reviewer I ever had, Jo. You're the sweetest, thank you so much for taking the time to comment everything! hugs Also a special thanks to my lovely beta Chloe who invests so much of her own time in my story… I can't thank you enough for that honey! hugs to you too I'll leave you with a new chapter today. It's Amy's birhtday and things happen that make Seth realize the truth… please review!_

**The Trouble With Love**

On Amy's 22nd birthday, Seth had planned to take the group out for a paintball match. Amy once had mentioned that she thought that paintball would be fun, and Seth had wanted to go all his life. And now that he finally had a girlfriend who wanted to go too he needed to take the chance that was given to him.

He had prepared a huge breakfast for Amy, with pancakes, waffles and French toast. And he had made it all by himself, which he was especially proud of. The kitchen table was decorated with all kinds of different flowers Seth had been able to find. Now that it was finally spring he loved every glimpse of a flower he could get. And that's why he had brought them into their apartment, on their kitchen table.

He had placed the morning paper on Amy's place, and his present for her next to it. He knew that she would love the present. It was a biography of her favorite singer, some girl from India no one in the States really knew. But Amy loved her music more than anything, and thanks to ebay, Seth had been able to find the book for his girlfriend.

Seth took a few steps back to admire the masterpiece of breakfast decoration on the kitchen table and smiled contently. Amy would love this. He stretched and went over to the counter to pour himself some coffee when he heard Amy's steps behind him. He turned around immediately and smiled, pointing out to the kitchen table.

"Happy birthday!" he sung and went over to her. "I hope you like this." He hugged her and placed a kiss on top of her head.

Amy didn't react at all and mumbled something Seth didn't understand.

He let go of her and frowned, watching her as she went over to the table, sat down and started to eat without waiting for him.

Seth went over to the table and sat opposite of her, looking at Amy questioningly. "Um… what-what's wrong with you?" he asked.

Amy sighed and threw her fork on the table, staring at him. "Something that should make you happy." She snapped and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Seth raised his eyebrows. "And that would be…"

"You remember that I thought I was pregnant?" Amy said and stared out of the window.

Seth slowly nodded. In silence, he prayed to God that she had taken a test, and that this test had been negative.

Amy sighed again and turned her head, looking at Seth again. "Yeah well, I got my period today. No baby. I hope this makes you happy." She snapped and stood up from the table, heading for the door.

As soon as Amy had turned her back on him, Seth silently threw a fist up in the air and grinned. Thank God she wasn't pregnant. He wasn't going to be a father. He nodded to himself. This had to be the best feeling in the world.

Due to his own little victory ceremony, Seth hadn't noticed that Amy had turned around again and was now watching him celebrate her non-existant pregnancy.

"This is nice." She said and Seth looked up, a shocked expression on his face, looking like a kid that just had been caught in a huge lie.

"You could at least have feigned a little sympathy for me here." Amy snapped and turned around again, proceeding in the direction of the bathroom, leaving Seth sitting wide eyed at the table.

When she was out of sight, Seth threw his fist in the air again, doing a little headbanging. "No baby." He whispered and grinned broadly. He couldn't help it if Amy was annoyed by that – but to him, those were like the best news ever.

* * *

Some time later Seth, Amy, Summer, Craig, Jenny and Chris were gathered on a paintball field on the city edge of Chicago. The sun was shining down on them, and the air was warm, and everything could have been a perfect birthday for Amy – if it wouldn't have been Amy herself that was in an incredible bad mood ever since Seth and her had left their apartment building.

Seth assumed that Amy was angry that the pregnancy she thought she was on turned out to be a false alarm, and he also considered the fact that he had made his little victory dance right after Amy had told him that she wasn't pregnant had kind of annoyed her.

So it was no surprise that Amy scoffed all the way to the paintball field, and that she hadn't stopped when Seth was giving everyone their equipment for the day. From the look on his friends faces Seth could tell that it wasn't just Amy who was kind of annoyed from the whole paintball thing, and after everyone had their helmets, clothes and weapons, Seth put his hands on his hips and stared at the small group of people who were gathered in front of him.

"Could you guys be a little less enthusiastic about this?" he asked and made a face.

"I'm sorry Seth, this isn't… exactly what I'd call fun." Jenny said and shrugged.

Seth's gaze went over to Craig who looked quite insecure. "I… have never done this before so…"

Seth rolled his eyes and looked at Summer who inspected her fingernails.

"Cohen, this was like the worst idea ever." she said. "So help you God if I break a nail during this little adventure here."

Seth shook his head and stared into the small group in front of him. "So why are we even here if nobody wants to be?"

"Because it's my birthday, and you had this all planned. And because I'm in a war mood today. This could turn out to be real fun." Amy answered and put her helmet on.

Seth's eyes widened and he feigned shock as he looked at his girlfriend. "What, all of a sudden this could be fun? May I remind you of your scoffing and whimpering all the way here?"

Amy shrugged and fixed her helmet, shouldering her weapon. "Changed my mind."

Seth shook his head, confused. Women.

Chris interrupted their little conversation and nodded enthusiastically. "I think this is a good idea." He said and smiled at Seth broadly. "Coming here I mean." He looked at Craig and Seth and smiled even broader. "Plus, you guys look so hot in those army clothes it's insane."

"Chris, ew." Seth replied and frowned.

Craig laughed and shook his head. "You've been around Summer way too often." He said and smiled at Seth.

Seth grinned just innocently and winked at Summer who started to grin as well.

Chris, who had watched the whole smiling-at-each-other scene nudged Jenny in the side and gave her a glare that said more than words. Jenny nodded and bit her lower lip, smiling to herself. Even a blind person could have seen the sparks that were flying between Seth and Summer at that moment – well, except for Seth and Summer themselves.

"So, let's put the teams together then." Amy said and clapped her hands. "I'll be with Seth, of course…" She paused and looked over to Summer who watched her with an annoyed stare. Just like Seth was her possession, Amy grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to her. Summer shook her head and looked away again, leaving Amy content. "And Craig, you'll be with Summer. I mean that's only logical." She turned to Jenny. "And then it's just you and Chris that are left."

Jenny shrugged and put on her helmet. "Sounds okay to me." She said and took Chris' hand. "We're gonna knock you all out."

Summer smiled at her best friend and winked. "Not if we knock you out first." She said.

Amy watched the best friend scenery and rolled her eyes, clapping her hands once again. "Okay then… the rules are easy. Every group tries to shoot the members of the enemy groups. Normally, you're out when you get hit, but since we have the place rented all day we end the game after two hours. The group that has been hit the most has lost. Did everybody get that?"

The group nodded and Amy sighed contenly, looking up at Seth. "Ready baby?" she asked and Seth smiled, holding his weapon up in the air. "Always."

"Are you gonna be okay? With your knee I mean?" Summer asked and pointed with her head to Seth's knee.

Seth looked down on himself and nodded. "Yeah. I'm gonna be fine. Watch out for me, you'll be dead!" he yelled and wiggled his eyebrows.

Summer shook her head and put her helmet on, laughing. "In your dreams, Cohen." She replied and took Craig's hand. She looked at her friends and raised her eyebrows. "So what now? Are we gonna talk or are we gonna play?"

* * *

One hour later the six friends were spread over the entire paintball area, some of them already decorated in the brightest colors. Seth had been shot several times right in his heart, but thanks to the changed rules he was still allowed to be involved in the game. Amy had been luckier, she hadn't been hit at all, a fact that made Seth and Amy the leading team by now.

Summer and Craig had parted a while ago to hunt more persons at a time. Right now, Summer was curled behind a bush, scanning her environment for any movements. She had found out pretty soon that she wasn't really talented for this game since her whole outfit was already peppered with loads of small colored spots. After the tenth hit Summer had actually stopped to count how often she would have been eliminated from the game if they had played according to the correct rules.

Jenny and Chris had just decided to take a break from hunting and being hunt and were sitting on two rocks in the farthest corner of the paintball area, discussing what they loved the most – her best friends Seth and Summer. After what he had seen just an hour ago before the match started, Chris saw his opinion that Seth and Summer were still in love with each other completely confirmed, and Jenny agreed with everything he was saying. The two of them knew that someday, Seth and Summer would see their real feelings as well and get together again.

Chris and Amy were lucky that they just had a talking break when Seth crawled past them behind some rocks, on the chase for his next victim. He and Amy had just parted ways, just like Summer and Craig had done it earlier. So thanks to their little break Seth didn't get the chance to shoot any of them, and crawled further until all of a sudden, a small pair of army boots showed up in front of his eyes.

Seth adjusted his helmet and looked up to see Summer standing in front of him, looking down with a very content smile on her face.

"Looks like you'll get another shot through the heart right now." She said and loaded her gun as Seth jumped up and whimpered. "Nooo. Don't shoot me, please." He said and pouted.

Summer laughed and shook her head, holding up her weapon high in the air. "Cohen, don't be a baby. Try to die like a man." She said and aimed for Seth's heart, the only place on his outfit that had been hit several times until now.

Seth sniffed and sighed theatrically. "Please spare me. I've just recovered from a major knee injury, I can't die now."

Summer put her weapon down eventually and stood on her right leg, tilting her head. "And I thought this whole fishing for compassion thing was over the day you got rid of the cast."

Seth shrugged and smiled innocently, showing off his dimples as he did so.

Summer held her breath for a second. Those dimples always made her heart beat twice its normal speed. She felt herself blushing and looked away, finding the dirty rocks next to them more interesting all of a sudden than their actual conversation.

"But…" Seth said and pointed to Summer with his gun. "I can shoot you."

Summer's jaw dropped and she tried to play shocked. "What now? I can't shoot you but you can shoot me?" she said and frowned. "What rules are that?"

Seth shrugged. "My rules."

Summer shook her head and reached for Seth's weapon to put it down. "Nuh-uh. Don't you think you'll get away like that." She moved closer to him. "I don't shoot you – and you don't shoot me. Let's just pretend we've never met here."

Seth curled his lips and looked at her. "Hm…"

Summer tilted her head and gave him one of her angel smiles.

"Fine then." Seth said and sighed. How could he resist such a beautiful smile? "But just because I like you so much."

Summer nodded and grinned. "Sure." She looked around her. "I guess I should go look for Craig – see how many people he shot. Plus, we're kind of breaking the rules here."

"You make this sound so dirty." Seth said and wiggled his eyebrows.

Summer shook her head and rolled her eyes but laughed. "Shut up you ass." She said and stuck out her tongue. "Or I might change my mind and shoot you."

Seth grinned and turned around to head in the opposite direction of her. "Not if I shoot you first."

And with that, Seth spun around again, shooting Summer right in her stomach. Shocked from that unexcpected move, Summer jumped, her eyes wide.

Shaking her head, she lifted her gun and shot Seth two times in each of his arms, smiling contenly after she was finished. She walked over to Seth and punched him playfully in the stomach. "Let's call it quits now." She said and stuck out her tongue. "My work is done here." She announced and strolled off, her weapon over her shoulder, leaving a very amused Seth behind.

* * *

Summer was still so extremely content that she had just shot Seth twice that she didn't notice Amy following her, her weapon pointed directly at her back. Only when Amy stepped on a dry branch and it cracked, Summer spun around, holding her gun out in front of her.

"So..." Amy said in such a low voice that made Summer shiver. "Tracked you down."

Summer's eyes narrowed and she made a face. "Don't you think you're gonna get me."

Amy rolled her eyes. "This isn't about you, darlin'. If it were up to me, you wouldn't even be here today."

"So? Then why am I here?" Summer asked and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Amy bit the insides of her cheeks and shot Summer a look that showed that she was ready to kill. "Because Seth wanted to invite you. He planned this stupid paintball thing months ago. And I couldn't cancel on him."

"Really? That's funny because usually you don't give a damn about what Seth wants. Why now?" Summer asked in the bitchiest voice she had.

Amy moved closer to Summer so their faces almost met. Summer could feel Amy's breath on her nose and she frowned.

"You wanna know why, precious Summer?" Amy asked and reloaded her weapon without Summer noticing it.

"That's why I've asked, skank." Summer snapped and put on the best war face she could manage.

"Because that way I knew I could get you." Amy said and took a few steps back, holding up her weapon. "Just like I have you now."

And before Summer even realized what was going on, she heard a loud "pang" coming from Amy's direction, and the next thing she felt was a breathtaking pain spreading all over her face.

Slumping down to her knees, Summer held on to her right eye with both of her hands and tried to understand what had just happened when she heard Amy's screams next to her.

"Summer? Oh my God, are you okay? Summer, look at me!" Amy screamed, terrified, kneeling down next to Summer and grabbing her shoulders.

When Summer didn't reply and just held on to her face, whimpering mixing with her cries, Amy threw her helmet and gun away and started to run for help as fast as she could.

* * *

Summer didn't know what had just happened, she just felt the pain spreading all over her face as soon as she moved. She couldn't even locate where the pain was coming from. Her hands clung on to her face automatically, and she felt how some tears were streaming down her face.

After a few minutes of having slumped down to the floor Summer managed to get her hands off from her face, and she almost fainted when she saw that she was bleeding. Not much but enough to make her only moreupset.Breathing quickly, she tried to calm herself down, and when sheheard familiar voices screaming her name, she tried to turn around, her head dizzy and spinning all of a sudden. She closed her eyes once again and waited for anyone to help her – well, anyone except Amy.

* * *

A few minutes later Summer found herself sitting on a bench near the parking lot, pressing a bag of ice on her cheek. Her wound was not as bad as it had first looked like, and she had been lucky that Amy's shot had missed her eye just for a few inches.

Summer hadn't said a word since her friends had arrived to help her, and she didn't plan on it any time soon. This was just too embarrassing and too stupid to talk about. Plus, as much as she hated Amy right now, she didn't want to blame her for what had happened – and not because she wanted to be nice to Amy, but because she didn't want to hurt Seth.

Craig and Seth were kneeling in front of her, Seth holding on to her right knee, Craig to her left. Summer didn't look at them – she preferred staring in the space that was between them.

The rest of the gang stood around the three of them, Amy as far in the background as possible. Right now she wouldn't want to be anywhere else than in the background, because it was obvious that everybody hated her for what she had done – including Seth, concerning the icy glare he had given her as soon as he had reached Summer a few minutes ago.

Suddenly, Seth started to rub Summer's knee.

"Summer, are you okay? Do you need some more ice?" he asked, and Summer shook her head in response.

"Baby, talk to us. Is anything hurting?" Craig jumped in now, and Summer shook her head again.

Craig and Seth looked at each other, and Seth shrugged and shook his head. He joined Summer on the bench and put an arm around her shoulder, almost forcing her to look at him.

"What happened out there?" he asked her and Summer turned her head to look into his gorgeous brown eyes, and all of a sudden, her mind was blank. She didn't remember what had happened out on the field with Amy. All that she knew at the moment was that she wanted to dive into Seth's eyes and never come up again.

"It was… an accident." She mumbled and forced herself to look away on the floor.

Seth stroked a strand of hair behind Summer's ear, his gaze never leaving hers.

Summer shivered as she felt how intensely Seth was staring at her, and she softly shoved his arm away from her shoulders. She cleared her throat and reached for Craig's hand that was still resting on her knee.

"I wanna go home." She announced and put the ice bag on the empty spot next to her.

Craig nodded and helped Summer get up from the bench, laying an arm around her waist. He turned to Amy and shrugged. "I'm sorry your birthday had to end like that." He said and Amy nodded, looking at Summer.

"I'm sorry too." She mumbled and looked at Summer who completely ignored her.

"Save it you bitch." Summer whispered when she passed Amy. "You're sick."

Amy looked down to the floor, embarrassed, trying to avoid Chris' and Jenny's stares.

"Summer, please-"

Now Summer spun around and brought her face close to Amy's, ready to kill her with her look. "I said save it, you bitch. I honestly don't know what Seth sees in you." And with that, Summer turned around, happy to see how ashamed and sad Amy was, and she didn't turn back until Craig and her had reached their car. When she sat in the passenger's seat she caught a glimpse of Seth and Amy, and she could see that Seth was yelling at her.

Summer closed her eyes and smiled contently. At least Amy got what she deserved.

* * *

Seth didn't remember the last time he had been so angry. He had been angry when he found out that his parents had kept his grandfather's disease a secret, but the anger from that time couldn't be compared with the fury he felt today.

He and Amy were walking for the elevated train station next to each other in silence, Amy her arms crossed in front of her chest and Seth staring in the distance. Seth knew that if he had to look Amy in the eyes right now he would lost his temper completely, and he didn't want half of Chicago to witness their fight.

And if it had been up to him, he would have remained walking in silence, but obviously Amy preferred to be yelled at in the street since she started talking all of a sudden.

"Seth, I'm sorry." She said and kept staring on the ground.

At that comment, Seth stopped and closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Why don't we discuss that at home?" he asked, trying not to lose his temper.

Amy stopped as well and put her hands on her hips. "Because I can't stand it when you're ignoring me."

Seth took a deep breath and counted to three. _"Keep cool Seth, stay calm"_ he told himself. He put on an angry smile and looked at Amy. "Well, maybe you deserve to be ignored, have you ever thought of that?"

"What for? It was just a stupid game, and I didn't shoot Summer on purpose." Amy said and shrugged. "She kind of got in the way."

Seth gritted his teeth and shook his head. This was unbelievable. "It's a shame that I don't believe in fairy tales anymore." He said. "Because this one's probably the best I've ever heard."

Amy's eyes widened in shock and she gasped. "Excuse me? What do you mean, "fairy tale"? I tracked Summer down and she lost, that's all."

Now Seth couldn't hold his anger back any longer, and he gripped Amy's arm tightly. "Don't you think that I believe a word you're saying." He mumbled through gritted teeth. "You've hated Summer from the very first moment, and you've always been jealous of her. Always."

Amy shoved Seth's hand away and took a few steps back. "Yeah, and have you ever wondered why?" she yelled, ignoring the people that started to watch them. "Because every time she calls you forget everything else. Every time her precious boyfriend abandons her for his job, you're the first one to keep her company. Don't you think I haven't seen the way you look at her? Like she's the most precious thing walking on this planet?"

Seth opened his mouth but wasn't able to say anything. Amy's words echoed in his mind, and he found himself realizing that she was right. But that didn't give her the right to hurt Summer the way she had today.

"Wow, the rambling king has lost his words, huh?" Amy spat and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "That's amazing, I couldn't make you love me, but I actually achieved to shut you up."

"Who do you think you are?" Seth shouted now and took a few steps in Amy's direction. "You expect me to care for our relationship, to care for you, and you don't visit me when I'm in the hospital for weeks. You didn't take care of me when I came home, and I couldn't walk for days. When my grandfather died you told me not to be a baby about this, and you were actually fuming at me when I told you I'd take Summer to the funeral with me." He laughed and shook his head. "And to top all of this – you tried to get pregnant even though I told you I don't want a baby. You didn't take your anti-baby pills because you wanted to get pregnant without me noticing it. So tell me, how could I possibly fall in love with a witch like you?"

Amy stared at Seth with her eyes wide open. This time it was her who didn't know what to say.

Seth grinned broadly. "Well, now I achieved to shut YOU up, didn't I?" he asked and raised a forefinger, bringing his face close to Amy's. "Oh, and you know what? On my birthday, when you were busy throwing up in the bathrooms…" he paused to give Amy some time to let the information sink in. "Summer and I kissed."

Amy blinked twice and her jaw dropped. "You did what?" she whispered, tears dwelling up in her eyes.

"I kissed her." Seth repeated and stood straight again, nodding for emphasize. When he saw the tears in Amy's eyes he shook his head. "Not this again." He mumbled. He knew that reaction only too well.

Angrily, Amy wiped her tears away and sniffed. "This is too much." She said and started to run down the street without looking back once.

Seth sighed and looked up to the sky. Should he feel bad about what had just happened? Or had it been right to tell Amy all those things? He sat down on a nearby bench and nodded to himself. Of course it had been right to tell her what he felt. He hated it that Amy thought only she had the right to feel hurt about how he treated her. What was about his feelings?

And right then, as he was sitting on that bench, Seth suddenly knew that he and Amy couldn't go on like this anymore.

* * *

_Next chapter: Dare You To Move – Seth makes a final move… as does Craig._


	14. Dare You To Move

_A/N: Hey folks! Update! We've almost reached the climax with this one - although I have some twists left for you. I really hope you like it... I thought a long time about what's happening in that chapter and I hoped it turned out okay. Also thanks to everyone who reviewed - I really appreciate that, and I'm glad you're enjoying this story so much! Please review again!_

**Dare You To Move**

_Welcome to the fallout_

_Welcome to resistance_

_The tension is here_

_The tension is here_

_Between who you are and who you could be_

_Between how it is and how it should be_

_I dare you to move_  
_I dare you to move_  
_I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor_  
_I dare you to move_  
_I dare you to move_  
_Like today never happened_  
_Today never happened before_

_(Switchfoot, Dare You To Move)_

Seth knew that she would be waiting for him at home. She didn't have any other place to go to, and everytime she was furious, she would place herself in front of the tv, declare the living room her territory and practically kick him out everytime he just thought about entering the room.

And it was just like that when he came home that evening. In one of the million reruns they always showed on tv, Rosie O'Donnell was trying to calm one of her crying talk guests in an unbelievably high voice. Amy didn't hear him coming in, or at least she didn't act like it.

So Seth took off his shoes and placed them next to the door, watching the back of Amy's head. He could practically see her angry gaze from the place he was standing, but he didn't care right now. What had happened today had been too much. And Amy needed to know that.

He inhaled and was just about to start the little speech he had practised so many times since he had started his way home when Amy took over for him.

"Don't even start to talk." She said and turned the sound of the tv off. She stood up and turned around, arms crossed in front of her chest. "Who do you think I am? And who do you think you are, talking to me like that?"

"Yeah, we…"

"I'm not finished yet." Amy said, her eyes sparkling full of… Seth wasn't able to define what they were sparkling off, and he wasn't able to, because faster than he could move Amy's lips were pressed against his, giving him a hard kiss. As he closed his eyes, all Seth could see was Summer's sweet face, laughing and smiling at him happily. And even though his brains knew that it was Amy who was pressing her lips against his right at that moment, Seth couldn't help but recall the kiss he and Summer had shared at his birthday party a few weeks ago.

It had been so intense and so full of desire Seth still wasn't able to get over it, and now he knew that he didn't want to. Ever.

As Amy backed away from Seth's lips he opened his eyes again, the image of the angry looking blonde sending him back to reality. His dreams about Summer – the future with her he had been picturing on his way home – weren't far away now. There was just this one thing to do that kept him from Summer. Seth knew that Craig wouldn't be the problem, because once Summer knew about the deep love he felt for her she would leave Craig right away and run back into his arms.

At least that was what Seth was convinced of.

A seductive smile from Amy made him focus on his girlfriend again and he grabbed her shoulders, shoving her gently over to the couch and placing her on it. He sat down next to her and took another glance at the tv program which still showed Rosie O'Donnell, this time trying to calm an arguing couple. Seeing it as a sign of what was laying ahead of him, Seth pointed to the remote control.

"Turn the tv off." He ordered and after a short moment of just looking at him Amy did as she was told.

As she placed the remote next to her on the couch, Amy started to smile. She looked up and her eyes sparkled again. "I'm glad you wanna talk about what happened earlier." She said.

Seth sighed and closed his eyes, slightly shaking his head. "I've been thinking." He started and opened his eyes again. "About earlier today, and about the past few months. Don't you feel like something is going really wrong between us?" he asked, his eyes begging her to understand what he was trying to say.

Amy blinked and shook her head. "Come on, we had a stupid fight, we were both angry and said things we didn't mean-"

"I meant them." Seth said and saw how Amy gasped for air.

"Well… um… then I guess I better apologize, huh?" she asked and laughed insecurily. When she saw that Seth's gaze didn't change she became serious again. "I can apologize to Summer too." She said, and added in an almost unhearable sound, "Even though I don't think she'll appreciate it."

"I'm not deaf, Amy." Seth said and rolled his eyes.

"Sorry. I screwed up today. And I'll do my best to fix it, I promise." Amy said and smiled shyly.

Seth shook his head. He couldn't believe that Amy really thought that she was going to get away with just a smile and a half hearted apology. "Amy, I'm not just talking about today." Seth said and intensified his stare at her. "Over the past few months… I…" he sighed and rubbed his nose. "I had a lot of time to think. About me, us, and the future. And I tried to picture the two of us in the future, as a couple. But honestly, no matter how hard I tried I always failed." He paused to see Amy's reaction, but she just kept staring blankly at him without any reaction.

"And then I wondered why I couldn't picture the two of us together. And the truth is…" Seth bit his lip as he saw some tears rising in Amy's eyes, and he almost gave in to them. Almost. "I don't love you, Amy."

Amy gasped and turned her head away as she tried to hide the tears that were falling down her face. Her gaze wandered over to Seth's desk where some photos from Seth and his friends stood. It had never really bothered her that one of the pictures was only from Summer, but now after Seth's confession everything she didn't want to admit to herself made perfect sense. More tears came falling down, this time tears of anger and frustration.

"I never have." Seth's voice interrupted Amy's thoughts and she faced him again, her angry looks almost scaring him.

"It's about her, right?" she asked, trying to suppress the anger that was coming up inside of her. The weirdest of all things was that she wasn't even angry at Seth – she was angry at herself, for being too blind to see the truth over all those years. When Seth didn't respond but only looked down on his lap Amy let out a bitter laugh and stood up.

"I knew it. Deep inside, I knew it. I just didn't want it to be true. I wanted you to love me in the exact same way that you love her." She wiped away some tears and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "God, I would have given everything for one of those "famous" looks you give her. You should see yourself when she's around. You're a completely different person. Do you know how much this hurts when I'm supposed to be your girlfriend, and not her?"

Seth swallowed hard. During his high of finally realizing how much he loved Summer, and only Summer, he had completely forgotten that Amy really loved him – and that his confession would probably hurt her like hell.

"Have you ever wondered why I wasn't around when you needed me?" Amy whispered as she walked over to the window to look down on the busy Chicago streets.

"Not really." Seth replied guiltily and sighed.

"She's always around. If not in person, she's around in your head. There was never room for me and you know that." Amy said and sniffed.

Deep inside, Seth knew that Amy was right. When Summer wasn't around Seth would talk about her and the funny things she said or did, and when she was around he always busied herself on her and not on his girlfriend.

But he also knew deep inside that those were very clear signs that he just couldn't let go of her. She had been his first love, and she would always be a special person to him, for the rest of his life, he knew that. And he had never felt those sparks with Amy, and it wasn't fair to her to go on pretending that he did. After all, she deserved a man who really loved her.

"Yeah." Seth replied and looked down on his feet, to avoid Amy's stare.

The same laughed again and shook her head. "Really brave of you to wait four years to tell me that. On the other hand I guess it's better than nothing."

"Amy, I'm sorry." Seth said and looked into her eyes that softened at his glare.

She sighed and shook her head. "I saw it coming." She admitted and wiped her tears away. "I guess I need to make room for Summer now."

Seth didn't know what to respond, and so he decided just to stay quiet. It had always been the safer way when it came to women. And just like he had expected it, Amy went on talking.

"I'll go and pack up my stuff. I wanna move out as fast as I can."

From the look in Amy's eyes Seth saw that she had given up. Given up arguing with him and given up trying to compete with Summer, and he was glad about it. No matter how much he loved Summer, but the last thing Seth wanted to do was to part ways with Amy while they were fighting.

"You don't have to rush it, Amy." Seth said and saw how Amy shook her head, smiling. "I do." With weak knees and her arms embracing her upper body she walked over to the sleeping room to pack up her stuff – and delete herself out of Seth Cohen's life. Even a person like her knew when it was over – and today, it was.

At least for her.

* * *

The next day was report day, and Seth had tried to act as normal as he could in Summer's presence, but Summer had known him for far too long to not notice that something was going on with him.

He had been quiet all morning, but Summer was still proud of him. The report had been going extremely well, and thanks to Seth and his extra-research the two of them had just gotten an A plus. In fact, Summer had never seen Professor Miller THAT cheerful about a report, and that really meant something.

After class, Summer had decided that they needed to celebrate their success and they went out for lunch. So now they were sitting in their favorite café, sipping on their coffees and having some cheese cake, but Seth still wasn't talking that much. Frowning, Summer tilted her head as if she wanted to find out what was wrong with him, but instead of looking at her, Seth decided to avoid her gaze.

He had broken up with Amy, but something inside of him made him go all nervous when he thought about telling Summer the truth about his feelings. He wanted to wait for the perfect moment, and that was definitely not during lunch and over cheesecake.

"Cohen, why won't you look at me today? Do I look _that _horrible?" Summer asked and put her fork down.

Slowly, Seth raised his head and smiled insecurily. "Sorry. I'm thinking."

"Yeah, I can see that. What about? You've been thinking all morning, it seems."

Seth sighed and took a sip of his coffee, staring out of the window. He didn't have to tell her his feelings yet, he still had time. So he decided to go for the plain facts.

"Yesterday I broke up with Amy." He said and looked down on his cake again.

Summer's eyes widened and her chin dropped. "You did what?" she asked and raised her eyebrows.

"Broke up with Amy." Seth repeated and shrugged. _Because I'm in love with you._

It couldn't be that hard to say that, right?

"Wow." Summer inhaled and sighed loudly. She couldn't help but notice how her heart beated a little faster and how her stomach seemed to tighten a bit at that news. Concentrating on the facts, she asked, "And may I ask you why?"

Seth shrugged. "You know, when things don't work… you should end them." _We work great_. Of course he was too shy to admit the last part.

Summer frowned a little. "Aha. Well… thanks for all the information, Cohen."

Seth laughed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, woman. I broke up with her because we worked just as great as Marissa and Oliver. Content?"

Summer shook her head and grinned. "Alright. You don't wanna talk about it." She softly put her hand on Seth's arm and tilted her head. "Are you sure you're okay?"

The mere touch of Summer's tiny hand made Seth shiver, and he stared at her, his mouth slightly open, not able to take his eyes off her. This touch felt so right. It made him feel more than okay. But still, it was not the right time to tell her that yet. Forcing a nod, he cleared his throat. "Sure."

Summer gave him a sympathetic smile. "Well, if you ever wanna talk… you know where to find me." She said and Seth nodded again. _If you wanna go to the movies with me tonight, I'll tell you what I feel. Just say it, Cohen, don't be such a coward!_

Just when Seth was about to acutally ask Summer for a "date", her cell phone interrupted their little "moment" and she took her hand away, leaving a slowly cooling spot on his arm.

"I'm sorry." Summer said and fumbled for her phone. "It's Craig." She said and pointed towards the door. "I'm gonna take it outside."

Seth sighed and nodded. "Yeah." As he watched her leaving the café he shook his head. "What a silly coward you are! Can't even ask her to go to the movies with you. Damn." It shouldn't be this hard to tell the girl he had been together for so many years before that he still loved her. But no, instead of talking, he just stared at her like an obsessed idiot.

While Seth was in his self-hate-spiral, Summer returned and smiled apologetically at him. "I hate to go now, but… Craig kinda invited me to a special evening… and I need to get ready."

_Great, Seth. Just because you were too stupid to ask her evening schedule's full. _

Seth forced a bright smile and nodded joyfully. "Not a problem. I need to leave too. To do… stuff."

"Sounds exciting." Summer said and giggled. Her face became serious again and she placed a soft kiss on Seth's cheek. "I'm sorry about Amy. I'll call you tomorrow, okay? Then we can talk, regardless if you want to."

"Okay." Seth replied and focused his attention back on his plate. Cheesecake was better than staring at her like an idiot. "See you tomorrow. And have a great night."

"Thank you." Summer whispered and turned around. Something about Seth was weird today. Well, but then, he had just broken up with his girlfriend, so Summer blamed it on that. Her mind was too busy to think about that any further now.

Again, Seth watched her leave, this time for real. Sighing, he threw some dollar notes on the table and waited a little before he left too. Tomorrow would be the day then. One day more or less wouldn't make a big difference now. What was really important was that he loved Summer. And he couldn't wait to tell her that.

* * *

"Oh my God, you look beautiful." Craig said, his eyes wide open. Just like he had wished, Summer had put on her black velvet dress that underlined the perfect shape of her body. Her hair hung lose over her shoulders, and her make up sparkled decently. If Craig hadn't loved her until that moment he might have reconsidered falling in love with her all over again.

Summer blushed at Craig's comment and stroked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Thanks." She replied. "I have tospend some time to look like this. When you called me today I really needed to improvise on my beauty program." She added and smirked.

Craig stood up and walked over to Summer, taking both of her hands in his. "This is gonna be the perfect night." He announced and kissed her passionately.

After the kiss was over, Summer ran a hand through Craig's thick blonde hair and smiled. "Are we gonna go now? Or is this your whole plan for the evening?" she asked. "Telling me over and over again how good I look."

Craig grinned. "I bet you wouldn't mind if I really did."

Summer laughed and shook her head. "Not at all." She replied and brought her lips closer to Craig's, kissing him again, this time with more emotion than before.

"But still..." she said after they had broken apart, "...I'd like to see the rest of your plan."

Craig put an arm around Summer's waist and guided her to the door, opening it for her. "Follow me."

Summer narrowed her eyes and smiled. She didn't want to admit it, but she actually liked this little surprise game Craig was playing with her tonight. And she liked it even more that Craig had chosen just some random night for being romantic. He usually kept those big romantic gestures for special dates like their anniversary or Chrismukkah or something like that. But tonight he had surprised her – like really surprised her – and Summer loved it.

"Whatever you say, Craig." She said and stepped out in the staircase.

Craig smiled. This was gonna be a perfect night.

* * *

"You kinda should have told me that we were going up here cause I'd have brought a warmer jacket. I'm freezing my ass off up here." Summer said and pulled her just mentioned jacket closer around her body.

Tonight, Craig had really surprised her. They went out to have pizza at his favorite Italian restaurant, and afterwards they had taken a ride to the outdoor deck on Sears Tower where they were now.

As much as Summer was ashamed that in four years of living in Chicago, she had never been to Sears Tower once, as much she loved it up there. It was cold and windy – but she was kind of used to that in Chicago – and the tower gave an amazing view of the city, with all its sparkling lights and skyscrapers. Summer had the feeling she could just stare at the city for hours and get not bored, even if she was almost freezing to death.

"Take that." Craig said and took off his own jacket to place it over Summer's shoulders, and she gladly accepted it. Hugging her from behind, Craig put his chin on Summer's head and stared out into the Chicago night. Never before in his life he had been so nervous, but never so sure about something. He fumbled in his pants pocket for the tiny velvet box and smiled contently when he found that it was still there – safe with him. Only a few minutes from now the huge golden ring that was waiting inside the box would be on Summer's hand, and he couldn't wait for that.

"So, I really liked tonight." Summer said all of a sudden, shivering a little from a new breeze of cold wind that was coming up.

"I could see that. I haven't seen you that happy in a long time. And after what happened yesterday, you know…"

"Let's not talk about dumbo girl right now. She's insane, and I don't know what Seth saw in her."

There was the name again. Seth. If Craig had learnt how to hate a name in the past few years it was the name Seth Cohen. Even when he was not around he was kind of there – because Summer couldn't seem to have at least one hour without thinking or talking about him. Faster than he initially had wanted to Craig turned Summer around and made her look at him.

Her big brown eyes were full of surprise at his sudden movement and Craig had to smile. He took the small box that kept her engagement ring out of his pocket and sighed. He had to do this now… and ban Seth Cohen out of his life forever. He took one of Summer's cold hands in his and nodded to himself, just like a silent encouragement.

"Summer… I love you. I really do. And you've made me happier than I ever thought I could be." Craig started his long-practised speech and felt the butterflies in his stomach rise from excitement.

Summer felt the butterflies too. But her butterflies were trying to tell her that something wrong was going on. No one ever gave such speeches unless they were…

Craig lifted the small box in front of Summer's eyes so that she could have a better look at the ring that was waiting for her inside of it. Slowly, he opened the box, inch by inch revealing the ring that would help to make Summer his wife. "And I never want to miss that happiness again. I want to be with you for the rest of my life."

By now, the box was fully opened, and Summer swallowed. This couldn't be happening…

"Summer Roberts… will you marry me?"

Although Summer wasn't stupid and although she had realized what Craig was trying to do when she had first seen the box her heart jumped a bit when she heard him say the actual words. Suddenly, her head started spinning and she could feel how her breathing quickened to twice its normal speed.

This wasn't really happening, was it?

Craig wasn't really asking her to become his wife, was he?

Summer looked down on her hands and imagined what marrying Craig would mean to her. It meant having to change her last name, first of all. Second of all, she would be tied to Craig for the rest of her life – even if divorces were existing, divorced couples always stayed kind of married – see Julie and Jimmy Cooper. They had been divorced, and just a few months after that they had hooked up again. And separated. And hooked up again. After three times of hooking up and breaking up, Summer had stopped counting.

Summer frowned as she realized that she was thinking about divorces even before she had answered Craig's question. She looked up, a quite confused look on her face, and bit her lower lip. Fighting for air, Summer tried to clear her head. Craig was looking so expectingly at her it almost broke her heart.

She was only 22. Why would someone want to get married so young nowadays? She had her whole life laying in front of her, with possibilities she didn't know yet… maybe there were other men waiting for her, and maybe the RIGHT man was among them.

All of a sudden, a picture from Seth flashed through Summer's mind, and she closed her eyes to regain her concentration. Not only Craig had asked her to make a huge decision right now, no, Cohen had to be in her mind now too. Summer bit her lip and wondered what Seth would say if she really got engaged to Craig, and she knew it wouldn't be good. He would probably tell her that she was crazy, getting married so young, and that she should rethink her decision. Opening her eyes again, Summer swallowed and slightly shook her head. She couldn't answer Craig's question now – she knew she needed to talk to her friends first, especially to Seth. She just needed to know how he would feel if she really got engaged to Craig.

"Summer, I'm kind of waiting…" Craig said and smiled insecurily, bringing Summer and her thoughts fully into reality again.

She swallowed and shook her head again. "Craig I… I'd like to think about that." She whispered and tilted her head as if she wanted to molden Craig's reaction.

Surprisingly, Craig smiled and nodded, closing the box and putting it back into his pant pocket. "Of course, baby." He said and cupped Summer's face in her hands. He placed a kiss on her forehead and sighed. "This was kind of surprising for you, I guess."

Confused, Summer's eyes darted back and forth from Craig's left eye to his right. She sure as hell hadn't expected his reaction to be so calm, but she was glad for it. There was just too much stuff going on in her mind right now, all of it only caused by one tiny question – and she needed to sort that stuff out first.

"I'm gonna walk home." She silently announced and took a few steps away from Craig. "I need the fresh air."

Craig smiled and nodded. "I'll see you at home honey."

With a shy smile, Summer turned around and walked away from Craig, as fast as she could. She needed to talk to Jenny about this – pronto.

After Summer was out of sight, Craig turned around and focused his attention back to the Chicago city lights, recalling Summer's reaction.

On the outside, he had managed to be the friendly and understanding boyfriend who of course didn't mind his beautiful girlfriend who was obviously not in love with him to rethink his proposal.

On the inside, Craig was fuming. Summer just needed to accept his proposal… it couldn't be this hard to forget a geek like Seth Cohen.

Could it?

* * *

Please don't hate me for what just happened! I have some twists left for this story, so stay tuned.

Next chapter: If I'm Not In Love - Seth gets an information wrong... and Summer makes her decision.


	15. If I'm Not In Love

_A/N: Thank you everyone for your overwhelming reviews on the latest chapter. I was convinced that you would hate me afterwards, but fortunately, you didn't;) I really hope you'll think of this chapter as exciting, it's the longest chapter in the second half of the story. There's a lot of feelings and stuff and I hope you like it. Also, be kind about any grammatical errors I made, I'm publishing this chapter in a rush because I'm off to a 5 day vacation tomorrow and I didn't want you to have to wait so long for a new one._

**If I'm Not In Love**

_If I'm not in love with you_

_What is this I'm going through_

_Tonight_

_And if my heart is lying then_

_What should I believe in_

_Why do I go crazy_

_Everytime I think about you, baby_

_Why else do I want you like I do?_

_If I'm not in love with you_

_(Faith Hill, If I'm not in love)_

"So she's really gone now. Like, completely?" Chris asked the next morning when he and Seth walked over the campus together under Chris' pink umbrella. Normally Seth would have been embarrassed to no end to walk under a pink umbrella, but today was different. He knew he had made the right decision by breaking up with Amy, and his heart felt like flying.

Okay, he still felt a little stupid for his staring-at-Summer-attacks from the day before in the café, but when he had woken up in the morning all he had felt was happiness. He intended to wait for Summer's call today, and then he would ask her out, well, not really out, but he would ask her to go to the movies – as friends. Afterwards he was planning on having some coffee with her, and that would be the perfect moment to tell her what was really going on.

He couldn't wait for it. The mere imagination of telling Summer "I love you" after so many years made him feel idiotically happy.

"Like, completely." Seth replied contenly and rubbed his hands.

"You don't seem to take it that hard, huh?" Chris asked and moved closer to Seth because the rain was intensifiying.

Seth laughed and shook his head. "Wasn't it you that always told me I'm in love with Summer? Wasn't it you who kept saying I'm with the wrong person? Now I'Ve chosen to be with the right one and you don't like it either. Man, you're hard to please."

"That's because I'm a girl at heart." Chris replied and giggled while Seth shook his head.

"Gross."

"What's gross about that? Well, it doesn't matter. This is so exciting! So you're free for Summer now?" Chris said and laid an arm around Seth's shoulders.

With a disgusted look on his face Seth sighed. "Dude, take that arm away from there or something bad might happen."

Grinning broadly, Chris pulled his arm away and sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm just so excited! When are you gonna tell her?"

"That's so none of your business."

"Come oooon. You started it. Now I wanna hear ALL of the details."

Seth smiled and shook his head. "We'll go and see a movie tonight, and afterwards I wanna tell her."

Suddenly, Chris stopped in his tracks and grinned. "I've never seen you so happy. Your eyes are glowing."

Shaking his head, Seth grinned, showing off his dimples. "I've never felt so happy. Dude, I'm not even afraid that she's not gonna want me back. I feel it in my bones that she still loves me."

From Chris' ultra-happy grin Seth knew what was about to follow, and usually, he would have done everything to avert it. But today was different, and so he gladly accepted Chris' hug.

Two guys hugging under a pink umbrella, and Seth Cohen didn't feel embarrassed at all. That was what love made out of you.

"Aww, look who's cuddling!" Jenny's voice interrupted the pseudo-makeout session and Chris backed away from Seth.

"Good to see you too, Jen." Seth said, still not able to stop smiling.

"Thanks Seth. You are the cutest couple."

"Hee, thanks." Chris replied and blushed a little while Seth shook his head.

"In your dreams, woman. We were just celebrating."

"Oh so you already heard? I'm surprised you're taking it so well." Jenny said, not aware that what she was about to say now would ruin Seth's mood for the day completely.

"Heard what?" the two boys asked simultaneously, and Jenny's eyes narrowed.

"That Craig proposed to Summer last night?"

Seth had never believed that your mood could swing from super happy to super depressed in no time, but it was true. Had he felt like smiling forever just a few minutes ago, he now felt as if his heart had been torn apart right in his chest. "Proposal?" he asked, his voice croaky and his eyes wide in shock.

"So you didn't know." Jenny stated and bit her lip. "Craig asked Summer to marry him last night, on Sears Tower."

Sears Tower. Could this man get any cheesier?

Summer was engaged. She would marry another man. She didn't love him. She probably had stopped loving him that long time ago when they had decided to go their separate ways in Freshman year.

The realization of that hit Seth like a sledge hammer, and all of a sudden, he felt the urge to run and sort out his thoughts. And he knew exactly where he would go.

Without looking at Jenny or Chris Seth started to walk away, slowly at first until he was jogging slightly towards the elevated train station.

"Seth! Where are you going?" Chris yelled after him, but he didn't feel like turning around. It seemed like the world hated him right now, and he definitely hated the world. And whoever was living on it.

Sighing, Jenny watched as Seth ran away and shook her head. "I'm just so stupid." She said.

"Let's just say it wasn't your smartest move." Chris stated and shook his head for emphasize.

"I should have known that he didn't know. He looked way too happy when I bumped into you."

Chris looked on the ground and hesitated for a moment. "He broke up with Amy to confess Summer his love. We finally got him where we wanted him…"

"…and now he feels like everything's ruined." Jenny completed the sentence and stomped her foot. "Silly!" she yelled at herself. "Chris, she hasn't even answered yet. She isn't sure if she really wants to marry Craig! There's still a chance for those two!"

Chris' eyes widened in surprise. "She hasn't answered yet? Jenny, why haven't you said that earlier?"

Blushing, Jenny shrugged. "He was too busy planning his escape from us." She said, looking into the direction where Seth had disappeared. "We need to fix this! I gotta call Summer."

"What? Why?"

"Because she's the only person that'll get through to him right now. He'll listen only to her."

"You're right." Chris said and jumped up and down a little from excitement. Maybe things weren't completely lost yet.

* * *

Taking another sip of her orange juice, Summer headed for the phone that was impatiently ringing on the living room table. Cursing because she almost spilled the juice over the couch she picked the phone up.

"Hello?"

"Summer, you gotta talk to Seth."

"Hey Jen, nice to hear from you."

"You two are so similar it's disgusting."

Summer smiled. "Okay, so what's wrong?"

Jenny sighed. "Seth's wrong. I guess he didn't take the news about your engagement pretty well."

Frowning, Summer sat down on the couch, putting her orange juice next to her on the side table. "What do you mean?"

"I sort of spilled the news to him and he ran away. Angry or something."

For a short moment, Summer's mind began to race about what might have been going through Seth's head when he had heard about her pseudo-engagement, and she was pretty sure that he hadn't been happy about it. "And what am I gonna do about that?"

"Go and talk to him! He'll open up only to you, you know that!" Jenny hissed and Summer sighed. She knew her best friend was right about that, Seth never opened up to anyone except to her. And she couldn't help but feel slightly worried about Seth now, and she wouldn't just sit in her apartment and ignore the strange feeling in her chest.

"Okay, I will. And I also know where to find him." Summer said and Jenny sighed from relief.

"Thanks Sum."

Frowning, Summer smiled. "No problem, so I'll talk to you-" Beep Beep Beep. Jenny had hung up before Summer could finish her sentence, and she shook her head. Whatever it was that was wrong with Seth, it seemed to be urgent.

* * *

"So she's going?" Chris asked, rubbing his hands together to warm them a little.

"Yes, she is. Let's just hope they'll figure this out now." Jenny replied and leant onto Chris' side.

If someone deserved to be happy together, it were Seth and Summer – now Seth and Summer just needed to figure this out.

* * *

He was just so predictable. Every of his actions and every of his reactions had become predictable to Summer over the years, and it kept scaring her over and over again that she knew him so well.

And when Chris and Jenny had told her to better go check on Seth she knew what this all was about. He had found out about the engagement – the engagement that wasn't an engagement yet – and now he was brooding and being angry at the world for God knew what reason.

Summer walked quickly towards the shore of Lake Michigan, right up to his favorite spot of the beach, and just like she had predicted it, he stood there, hands in his pockets, staring out in onto the lake that was highlighted with decent sparks of the lights from the skyscrapers right next to the shore.

As usual in spring, the wind blew through Summer's hair and messed it all up, but she didn't care. It was rainy and windy and nobody would care right now. Sighing, she walked up to Seth, stopping when she was only a few steps behind him.

Crossing her arms in front of her chest to shelter herself from the cold wind, she sighed. "I love it when the city lights reflect on the lake." She said and watched how Seth turned around, a questioning look on his face. Summer walked up to Seth until she stood right next to him, staring out at the lake as well. "It seems so peaceful, you know."

"What are you doing here? Aren't you cold?" Seth asked without looking at her. He just turned his head away again and kept his gaze fixed on the sparkling water of Lake Michigan.

Summer's heart fell a little because of the emotionless welcome Seth had just given her.

"No, I'm fine. I figured you'd be here." She replied and looked him in the eyes. "I wanted to talk to you."

Sighing, Seth closed his eyes for a short moment, and when he opened them again he returned the look she gave him. "If you wanna talk about your engagement... I already heard that." He said and looked away again.

Summer shook her head and moved closer to Seth so that their bodies were only inches apart now. Seth had to fight the urge to push her away from him, because having the girl he loved so close to him while knowing he had just lost her to some blond advertisement business guy was slowly driving him insane.

"You know?" Summer asked, although she already had guessed that Chris and Jenny hadn't been able to shut up and let herself handle this.

Seth only nodded for an answer.

Summer bit her lip and frowned. Why the hell was Seth so cold and rejective to her? Had she done anything wrong? "Cuz, well, you know, I didn't wanna tell you and probably overwhelm you with it or something."

Seth let out a bitter laugh. "As if it would matter now."

Summer frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're gonna marry him, so what does it matter now? I don't need to explain this to you." Seth snapped and shook his head. He hated to be so mean and rejective to Summer, but he just couldn't help himself. When he had heard that Summer might say yes to someone else than him, someone she wasn't even happy with, his heart had been shattered into pieces, and being angry at her was his usual reaction to a huge thing like that.

Summer pressed her lips tightly together, trying to suppress her own fury that was rising inside of her. She hadn't done anything wrong, and she didn't understand why Seth was acting the way he was acting right now. "I think you do." She said and nodded. "Explain."

Seth closed his eyes for a short moment and faced her again after he had opened them. "No, Summer, I don't. Because everything I wanna say right now is falling outta place cuz you're marrying him. It doesn't matter anymore what I think."

Frowning, Summer let the words he had just told her sink in. Had Jenny told him that she had said "yes" to Craig? Well, she obviously had, because why would Seth assume just like that that she was marrying Craig? She blinked twice and shook her head slightly. "I haven't given him an answer yet."

Now Seth was frowning as well, confused. "You haven't? Why?" he asked and blinked, hope rising again inside his heart. Maybe she hadn't given Craig an answer because she had finally realized that she only loved him? That their relationship was far from over?

But just as quickly as Seth's hopes had been inflamed, as quickly they were destroyed again by Summer's reply.

"I needed time to think. You know this is like huge and I don't wanna make the wrong decision." She said and sighed, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden.

"So what do you want from me now? My blessing?" The moment he had said it Seth knew that he shouldn't have, but he just couldn't help himself. If Summer didn't want to be with him, or confess her love to him, why had she come to search and talk to him in the first place? The last thing he wanted to discuss with her now was whether the ring Craig was about to give her would be good enough to build a life upon or not.

Instead of answering, Summer busied herself with studying her shoes. She had a strange feeling inside of her that made her throat go dry and her heart race in an abnormal speed, and she didn't dare to think about where it came from and why it was there.

After a few seconds without a reply from her Seth let out a bitter laugh. He had sworn to himself that he wouldn't interfere if she really wanted to marry Craig, but now that she was unsure he just needed to talk her out of it, and lead her towards the right decision. "You know what, go ahead. If you wanna ruin your life, go ahead." Surprised at the harshness of his words, Seth took a step back and shook his head. He hadn't meant for the words to sound so mean, but his defence mechanism couldn't make him tell her those things in a nicer way.

Summer swallowed and looked up again, immediately feeling hurt as soon as the words had been spoken. "What does getting married have to do with ruining my life?"

Sighing, Seth shook his head and pushed his hands further in his pockets, building a wall of defence in front of him. "Getting married doesn't ruin your life." He said and shrugged. "Marrying the wrong man, that is."

Now that was enough. Summer had tried to accept Seth's strange behavior, because she always was, but what right did he have to tell her that Craig was the wrong man for her? "So you wanna say what? That Craig isn't good enough for me?" she asked and crossed her arms in front of her chest, her face showing nothing but anger now. She didn't even care that she had been having the exact same thoughts, it was just her pride that told her to fight Seth instead of admitting he was right.

Seth stared at her, his gaze intense and sending shivers down Summer's spine. His eyes were widened twice their normal size as he was desperately trying to tell her that marrying Craig wasn't the right thing to do. "Summer, he doesn't care about you." He pointed out. "He leaves you alone half the year. Do you really think this is gonna change when you marry him?"

Summer gasped and felt a rage blackout coming up from deep inside of her, and she did her best to suppress it, at least for the moment. "He cares for me when I need him!" she yelled, totally infuriated now. "And you definitely shouldn't be the one to judge, with your 'party-is-more-important-than-my-boyfriend-ex-girlfriend.'"

She shook her head. "Besides, it would be like..." she paused a short moment before she spilled the big secret, the one Craig had been telling her today at breakfast. "He would get a new job, in a higher position... he wouldn't need to travel anymore."

Surprisingly to himself, Seth felt his body calming down and he took his hands out of his pockets to run them through his hair. "No need to travel, huh? So he would just stay here in Chicago, by your side, and play picture-perfect-husband?" Seth cleared his throat, hating it that the hurt was clearly hearable in his voice.

"Um…" Summer paused and took a deep breath, tracing the inner sides of her teeth with her tongue. She counted to three until she was sure that the rage blackout was about to stay where it was supposed to right now – inside of her. "The job would be in Atlanta, where his family's from. We'd make a whole new start."

Seth swallowed. Things were getting better and better, in an ironical way, of course, and the more the conversation went on, the more determined Summer seemed to marry her boyfriend of three years. And even though it hurt him like hell Seth hadn't missed the spark of hope in Summer's eyes when she had told him that Craig and her would be moving to Atlanta to make a new start. She actually seemed to be looking forward to not have to watch Craig leaving every couple of days.

"Atlanta?" he asked, trying to steady his voice.

"Yes, Atlanta." Summer replied and blinked back the look confusion that had been coming to her eyes.

"As in Atlanta, Georgia. Host of the Olympics in 1996?" Seth decided to do the thing he was best in – making fun out of a situation that was breaking his heart and made him so angry at the same time.

Summer nodded shyly. "Yes, that Atlanta."

And just as she expected that Seth was about to tell her what was really bothering him about the fact that she would marry Craig, Seth turned on his defence mode again, pushing his hands in his pockets and taking a few steps back. "Well then that's great. Hope you make your choice soon so I can go and pick out some sweet wedding gift for you and your future husband." Seth snapped and walked away without looking back.

Summer had had her chance to tell him what she felt about him, or Craig or God knows who, but she had preferred to chat with him about her future happy married life, and Seth just wasn't able to bear that. He couldn't stay in that place a single minute longer, and so he had walked away. He didn't want to show Summer his feelings if she cleary didn't return them, and he would be the last person to destroy a happy relationship.

Summer had wanted to call out after Seth, but as she opened her mouth nothing came out. When she had come here a few mintues ago she had been convinced to know everything about Seth, about his moods and his reactions, but he had never acted like that, mean, accusing and hurt at the same time, and Summer really didn't know where to put that. Well, in a way, she knew completely why Seth was reacting that way… she had seen the way he had been looking at her, she had felt the special way when he touched her… and she had known from the very first moment he had told her that he had broken up with Amy why he had chosen to be single again.

But Seth had never talked bad about Craig, especially not so bad as he had a few minutes earlier. He might have been right when he had said that Craig wasn't there for her all the time, but after all, Craig was a good boyfriend who really loved her and had just some problems to show that.

The longer Summer thought about Craig and the conversation or fight or whatever that had just been with Seth, the more determined her answer to Craig's question became.

And even though it was late Summer broke off in a jog to the elevated train station.

She needed to tell Craig her decision now.

* * *

The next morning, a very weary and sad Seth entered Chris' little diner, slumping down on one of the benches. He threw his arms on the table, resting his forehead on them, recalling the fight he had had with Summer the night before. He didn't even know why he had been so angry at her, it wasn't her fault that he hadn't told her his real feelings. How could he ever expect her to come back to him if she didn't know what he really felt about her?

But on the other hand, for the glimpse of a moment, Summer had actually seemed happy with the news of her possible engagement, and the last thing Seth wanted to do was to destroy any of Summer's happiness. He just loved her too much for that.

Seth didn't even notice that Chris had sat down next to him, putting a cup of coffee in front of his face. Only when he smelled the brown liquid Seth looked up and faced Chris who gave him a sympathetic look.

"So you already know." He said and shoved the cup closer to Seth who took it in both of his hands, lifting it up to his mouth.

Seth nodded, biting the insides of his cheeks. He took a sip of the coffee, letting its comfortable warmth fill his body. After nights like the one he just had, when he hadn't been sleeping for more than one hour he was always cold, and the hot coffee was just what he needed right now.

Chris reached over the table and placed a hand on Seth's bare arm, lowering his gaze. "Have you at least told her? You know, what we discussed yesterday in the afternoon."

Taking another sip, Seth shook his head, staring on the table, his eyes not willing to move. "We talked. And had a fight."

Chris took his hand back and sighed, shaking his head. "You guys are so disfunctional." He stated and rolled his eyes.

Seth put the coffee mug down angrily and leant his upper body on the table edge. "What was I supposed to do? Hurt her and tell her to leave him for me? For a short moment she actually seemed to be happy about it."

Chris stared at Seth with his eyes wide open. "In a nutshell, you should've." He sighed again. "Look, Seth, how can she ever realize that she wants to be with you if you don't tell her that you want to be with her too?"

Seth preferred not to answer and to take another sip of his coffee instead.

Chris went on. "And how can she ever leave Craig and undo the engagement if she doesn't know that YOU are the one who wants to marry her?"

"She doesn't need to undo their engagement." Seth mumbled and busied himself with the half empty cup in his hands.

Chris blinked twice and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She hasn't even answered yet." Seth looked up again and saw how Chris' eyes widened a little more.

Chris reached out over the table again, this time grabbing Seth's arm harder and shaking it as if he wanted to wake him up from a deep sleep. "What do you mean, she hasn't even answered yet?"

Seth shrugged. "Am I talking Chinese or what? She hasn't even answered as in no "oh yes, of course I will marry you" or "leave me alone, why would I wanna marry you" kind of way."

Chris shook his head, trying to figure out what this information meant for Seth's and his mission to win Summer back. Jenny had called him last night, totally devastated about Seth and Summer's fight, and he assumed the fight had been that bad because Summer had already accepted Craig's proposal. Okay, Jenny had told him something else, but honestly, how reliable was Jenny when it came to giving good information? Chris shook his head. He had never been that confused in his entire life.

Seth cleared his throat. "She's just told him that she needs time to think and decide."

Chris gasped and clapped his hands, squeaking a little. "Darling, this is PERFECT!" he yelled and turned a bright shade of red when he realized that everyone in his little diner had their attention focused on Seth and him all of a sudden.

Seth ignored the other people's glances and just went on with the conversation. "And why is this perfect?"

Chris cleared his throat and leant a little over the table to keep their talk more private this time. "Seth, you need to tell her! It's not too late yet!"

Shaking his head firmly, Seth shoved the coffee mug to and fro between his hands on the table. "I'm not gonna destroy a happy relationship."

Chris rolled his eyes and threw his head back theatrically. "Oh. My. Gosh, would you please stop acting like a martyr? You LOVE her!"

"I do." Seth replied and lowered his gaze. "Always have. Always will."

Now Chris stood up to join Seth on his side of the table. He laid an arm around Seth's shoulders and smiled at him encouragingly. "So, why would you bother about some other guy? It can't hurt to tell her."

"Dude, take your arm away from there." Seth said, shooting Chris a disgusted look.

Smiling innocently, Chris took his arm back and rested his hands in his lap. "Arm's gone." He said. "So, did you hear what I just said? You NEED to tell her! It's your duty."

Seth frowned and moved a little away from Chris. "And why would this be my duty?"

Chris shook his head, almost desperate that Seth was so slow off the mark. "If you don't tell her now you're gonna regret it for the rest of your life! You're gonna be sitting in your rocking chair, stroking one of your five cats, and you're gonna be wondering how your life might have been if you had told her that you loved her and wanted to be with her instead of keeping your sorry little mouth shut."

Raising his eyebrows, Seth blinked and opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. The very colorful image that Chris had just drawn, of him living alone with five cats as an old man, still mourning over the loss of Summer had been too much to find a response to. "You're right." He said in a low voice, and Chris grinned, clapping his hands.

"Yaaay! So you're gonna tell her?"

Seth nodded, all of a sudden totally convinced that Summer needed to know about his feelings. The little trip into his future had surely done its duty to encourage him. "Sure I will. I mean, I can at least try, right? I've got nothing to lose." Seth replied, and for the first time in days a smile formed on his lips. He had almost forgot how good a simple thing like a smile felt, and he knew he needed to go and confess his love to Summer right now.

Grabbing his sweater, Seth shoved Chris out of the bench and ran a hand through his hair.

Chris grinned broadly, very proud of himself and how his convincing techniques worked, and he tried very hard to suppress a hug that was forming inside of him.

"She's gonna take me back, man." Seth said with so much belief that let any other reaction from Summer out of question.

Now this was too much. Chris jumped and hugged Seth tightly, squeaking like a little girl. "I'm so excited!" he yelled and cleared his throat after he had realized that Seth probably wasn't enjoying his little love hug as much as he should, and he pushed Seth away from him. "I mean… course she's gonna take you back, dude." Chris said in a sad attempt to mimick a very masculine, cool man, and Seth had to smile.

He shook his head and grinned. "You're crazy."

Chris nodded and grinned from one ear to the other. "I know-" The sound of his cell phone interrupted him, and he pulled the phone out of his jeans pocket, his excitement rising a little more when he saw that the caller was Jenny. He held out his forefinger to Seth and motioned him to wait until he finished the call.

"Hey Jen baby, how are you?" he chimed into the receiver, and Seth shook his head again. Nothing was more exciting than Chris being excited.

"You talked to her? What did she say?"

The word "her" caught Seth's attention immediately since this word left the only conclusion that Chris and Jenny were talking about Summer. He took a few steps closer to Chris in the hope to hear something the two of them were talking about.

"She made a decision?" Chris asked, his eyes wide.

Seth felt how his heart started to beat faster every second, pumping adrenaline through his veins. Silently he prayed that Jenny would tell Chris now that Summer had said "no" to Craig, and that he only needed to walk up to her, tell her he loved her, and she would be his again.

His heart almost stopped beating when Chris' smile faded all of a sudden, and a small "oh" escaped his mouth.

A few seconds later, Chris hung up and shook his head, looking down on the floor.

Biting the insides of his cheeks, Seth needed to fight tears as all of the hopes he had had before had just been shattered by a single gaze Chris was wearing now.

And it was almost redundant that Chris told him what Jenny had said, because Seth already knew.

Chris sighed. "She said yes."

* * *

_Please please please don't hate me now! If you know me and my other stories you should also know how this story's gonna end. I wrote in the beginning that it is a Seth and Summer story and I wrote that for a reason. So please keep that in mind as the story continues. There are four chapters left now._

_Next chapter: It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing - Seth finally confesses his feelings to Summer... butis it too late for them?_


	16. It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing

_A/N: Just to start with that: I loved all of your reviews on the last chapter, thank you so much! And I'm really glad you're not hating me after I let Summer accept the proposal. In today's chapter, Seth makes his last move... but will it be too late?_

**It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing**

When things seem final everything is happening in a super high speed. When the woman you love decides to marry another man it seems like her future husband is rushing the wedding on purpose, so that she can't change her mind anymore.

At least that was how it seemed to Seth after his friends told him that Summer's and Craig's wedding was supposed to be just one week after Craig's proposal. Seth didn't like that everything seemed like Craig had planned it since the very beginning, but what could he do? Summer had accepted Craig's proposal, and it seemed final.

Although he couldn't help but picture himself telling her that he was in love with her, that he always wanted to be with her, and that she made the world's biggest mistake by marrying Craig. Seth wasn't ready to accept that this was the end.

Tonight was her bachelorette party in the "Windbreaker", and Chris had sent Seth an encouraging email, telling him to talk to Summer one last time. After all, he had nothing to lose. Seth had been thinking about going all day, on the one hand being afraid of another rejection, and on the other hand with the knowledge that he really had nothing to lose. And if he didn't try and tell Summer his feelings today he might probably have regretted it for the rest of his life.

So after having read Chris' email several times, and after one glass of champagne Seth felt encouraged enough to go and confess Summer his love.

And now he was standing in front of the "Windbreaker", inhaling deeply. It was now or never.

A few seconds later, Seth peeked around the corner in the main room of the "Windbreaker" where people were sitting on the several sofas that were spread across the whole room, drinking and laughing. The music was incredibly loud, at least too loud for Seth's Indie music loving ears.

Seth tried to hide as best as he could. He didn't want to be seen by anybody, especially none of his friends. He was excited enough because of what he was about to do, and the last thing he needed was any company that would witness his failure.

Just when he thought that it everyone seemed enough self-occupied, Seth made a step into the room, almost dying from a heart attack when he saw Chris running up towards him, grinning broadly.

"Man, you're here!" Chris yelled and lay an arm around Seth's shoulder, pulling him inside the room towards a table. "And I thought you'd go for the cowardish way."

Seth twisted under Chris' firm grip and forced a smile. "Yeah, I was, at first… but now… I'm here."

Chris winked and his green eyes sparkled. "So tonight's your big night huh?" he asked and pointed with his head in the direction to the buffet, right where Summer was standing, talking to some girls from their English class.

It was only then that Seth realized what he was just about to do. Here he was, at his best friend's bachelor party, the night before her wedding, just about to ask her not to marry Craig and be with him. He quickly shook his head and turned around to head for the exit again when Chris grabbed him by the arm and gave him a confused look.

"Where're you going?"

Seth ran a hand from his chin down his throat and frowned. "I... this is a bachelorette party." He started, his gaze wandering to the door in the hope that Summer wouldn't see him.

Chris gave him a confused look.

Seth rolled his eyes but answered nevertheless. "Bachelorette means women only." He explained.

At that comment, Chris laughed and shook his head, moving closer to Seth. "So what? I'm a man and I'm here."

"You're gay." Seth replied. "That counts as woman." Seth was sure that any other gay person on this planet would have taken his statement as an offense, but he had known Chris long enough to know that he laughed the loudest when jokes about homos were made.

Chris made another move towards Seth and smiled at him seductively. "So be my boyfriend, and you're allowed to stay here."

If it had been a normal situation, Seth would have thought of this joke as funny, but not today. Not now that his emotions were on a permanent rollercoaster. He just made a face towards Chris and made his way up the stairs to the exit.

He had almost reached the upper level when Chris' hand took hold of his arm again, spinning him around. Chris gave Seth a sympathetic look and smiled. "Remember what I told you. You've got nothing to lose. Tell her."

Seth shifted from one foot to the other, hesitating. "I... I wanted to... I don't know." Seth trailed off before he could even start with an explanation.

"Seth. You're gonna regret it later if you don't tell her now." Chris said and pointed a finger towards his chest.

Seth closed his eyes and sighed. Chris didn't understand this. He didn't know how much it hurt to be rejected by the person you loved so much. And Seth was just plain scared of that.

"You don't have to be afraid." Chris said, looking slightly worried.

Seth raised his eyebrows and gave Chris an evil glare.

"Okay, maybe you do have to be afraid. But… there's only one way to find out. Tell her." He said again, looking expectingly at Seth.

"I... was... going to... but…" Seth stammered and felt his cheeks redden.

Great. Really great. This worked just he way he had imagined it. And now he was blushing in front of a homo, very helpful.

"Come oooon, honey, we covered all of that already." Chris said and grinned.

Seth made a face and shook his head. "I just can't, okay? It was stupid enough to ruin my own relationship, why should I ruin hers too?"

"Because you know that she's making a mistake and all you want is for her to be happy – with you." Chris replied.

"This sounds so easy when you say it." Seth replied. And it did. When Chris talked about it, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to go and tell Summer how he really felt.

Seth felt Chris' hands shoving him down the stairs again. "It is that easy." When they had reached the bottom floor, Chris turned Seth's head into Summer's direction. She was still talking to the girls, laughing every now and then, pushing some strands of her curled long dark hair behind her ear from time to time. And she looked beautiful. More beautiful than anybody he had ever seen before.

All of a sudden, the image of perfection was destroyed by Chris' hand that was moving up and down in front of his face.

"Earth calling Seth, Earth calling Seth... are you still there?"

Seth nodded and swallowed as if to shut out the overwhelming feelings inside of him. "I need to tell her." He whispered all of a sudden, and Chris' face brightened. He patted his hands on Seth's shoulders and shoved him forward a little more.

"You're so right. Go and tell her. You have nothing to lose."

And Seth knew that Chris was right. So he inhaled deeply and closed his eyes for a short second to gather some courage. When he didn't feel like fainting anymore, he took some steps forward into Summer's direction, never forgetting the words he wanted to tell her.

* * *

Summer was so concentrated on her talk with Jenny and Rachel that she didn't see Seth approaching them. And when he tipped her on the shoulder and he stood intimidatingly close to her she shrieked a little, covering her hand with her mouth. 

"God, Cohen, you scared the shit out of me." She said and brought a hand to her chest.

Seth forced a nervous smile and took hold of Summer's arm, pulling her slightly away from the other girls. "I need to talk to you." He said and gave Rachel and Jenny a smile. "Alone."

The two girls shrugged and disappeared in the crowd, leaving Seth and Summer on their own.

Seth looked around himself and cleared his throat. The music was way too loud regarding the importance of the things he was about to tell her.

"Can we go outside?" he asked with a pleading look.

Summer didn't understand what was going on and she just shrugged. "Sure."

She let Seth lead her outside in the Chicago spring night where Seth motioned her to take a seat on a nearby bench.

As a slight breeze came blowing over Summer's bare arms, and she rubbed them, shivering slightly. As Seth saw that he took off his vest and – gentleman that he was – pulled it around Summer's shoulder.

After that, Seth nervously put his hands under his thighs and smiled. "So..." he said and nodded.

Summer frowned. She didn't get what this conversation should be about. "So?"

Seth's head scanned the environment. "What a wonderful night." He stated and looked back at her. "Don't you think?"

This was very confusing. Summer was used to Seth's rambling or nonsense talks, but this one was probably the most ridiculous conversation they'd ever had. "Wonderful, Cohen." She replied sarcastically, pulling the vest tighter around her shoulders. "What's going on?"

Seth nodded and forced a stupid grin. "Bachelorette party, huh? It's like – your big day." He stated, his eyes never leaving hers, even if he knew that he was just about to embarrass himself due to his permanent rambling.

Summer frowned and nodded, and because she didn't know what to answer she decided to answer nothing and wait for what was about to come out of Seth's mouth.

It didn't take him longer than ten seconds to go on talking.

"So... you're really not concerned on getting married so close to the finals?" he asked, his upper body rocking slightly back and forth, accompanied by a nervous tapping on the floor with his left foot.

Summer just shrugged in response. "Not really. What does getting married have to do with the finals, anyway?"

Now Seth shrugged as well. "I mean you're moving... that's a whole bunch of stress... and then you gotta study... finals are only two weeks away... and then you need to plan the wedding, you know, guest lists and stuff like that..."

Frowning again, Summer's facial expression turned into a question mark. It wasn't like Seth and her had never been talking about all of this before... moreover, Seth knew everything about all the things he had just mentioned.

"Cohen, the whole wedding planning stuff... already happened. And there's no stress in moving. We have a company that moves us. And I can still study for the finals. Just because I'm getting married it doesn't mean that my brain stops working."

Seth shook his head and sighed. If it would have been possible at that moment, he would have kicked himself in the ass for being such a coward and just trying to save some time instead of just telling her the words he had practiced so often the night before. "So you think you're gonna like Atlanta? It was the host of the Olympics in 96."

If Summer hadn't considered Seth as insane until that moment, she definitely did now. This was probably the best – ironical, of course – rambling session she had ever heard from him. And if there was one thing she had learned over the years about Seth's famous rambling sessions, it was that every time he started one of them all he really wanted to do was to avoid much more serious issues.

"Cohen, what's wrong?" she asked and narrowed her eyes.

And it almost gave her a heart attack to hear the next words that came out of Seth's mouth.

"Don't marry him, Summer."

Summer's eyes widened twice their normal size. She blinked three times and shook her head, assuming that her ears had just played a trick on her. "What?" was all she could manage to reply.

Now Seth took her hands in his and squeezed them tight, moving closer to her and giving her one of his hurt puppy looks she had never been able to resist.

"You just can't marry him, Summer. It would be a huge mistake." Seth paused a little. He couldn't believe that he was actually saying the words that had wanted to come out for so long now.

Summer inhaled once and closed her eyes. "Cohen-"

Seth's heart pounded heavily against his chest, but he needed to shut her off before his courage left him again. He just needed to tell her everything to avert her wedding with Craig.

Squeezing her hands only tighter, Seth went on. "No Summer, listen. I beg you not to marry Craig." He was surprised of how hurt his voice sounded when he told her his plea, but he was sure that the hurt in his voice could be really good to convince Summer to get back together with him.

He had played the wrong card.

"This is ridiculous, Cohen." Summer replied and softly pulled her hands out of Seth's tight grip, folding them in her lap and lowering her head, not being able to look him in the eyes right now.

Summer watched as Seth took another deep breath and closed his eyes, his lips pressed together tightly. After a few seconds, he rolled his lips inward and sighed again.

"I love you, Summer. More than anything. I always have. I never stopped. And I always will. And I know that you're not just feeling friendship for me too."

He practically felt how his little declaration of love made her melt right under his hands, and for just a short moment, she gave him the impression that she was about to burst into tears of joy and fall back into his arms, telling him the three magical words as well.

He watched her as she fought some tears as she bit her lip and took some deep and controlled breaths. "Seth, this is none of your business anymore. We split up years ago, for good."

Seth shook his head enthusiastically. "Who says it was for good? Who says we didn't make a huge mistake back then?"

Summer let out a laugh and looked up to the sky, shaking her head. The heaviness of all the different emotions that came crushing down on her right at that moment was almost unbearable.

"Yeah, and what if we did? It's too late now anyways. And we both found partners we're happy with." She paused and looked at him. "Well, at least I did. You and I are over."

Summer shot Seth a quick glance and she saw how the wheels in his head were turning, how he was desperately trying to find some words that would convince her to come back to him. But she knew that she couldn't just go back to Seth after all those years, let alone on the night before her wedding day. What he wanted from her was ridiculous, and he knew it as well as she did.

When Seth had finally gathered enough courage again, he couldn't help but pointing out to that he was single. "I broke up with Amy, you know that."

Now Summer's breathing became quicker and her heart started to race in an almost abnormal speed. "Yeah." She whispered. "But… why?"

Seth nodded enthusiastically and moved closer to her again. "I realized that I was only with her to numb the pain of being apart from you."

Dear God, what was he doing with her? Why did he do this to her, on the most important night of her life? Why had he waited so long for this? Summer's heart ached to tell him how she really felt, and how he was the only one she really wanted to be with, for the rest of her life, but her brain told her to stick to a decision she made in her life, just for once. And she couldn't just come running back to Seth when he asked her to. She couldn't do that to herself, and, most of all, Craig. Because Craig really loved her, and he was ready to steal the stars from the sky for her whenever she felt like wanting one. Plus, she still had some pride. Her thoughts were interrupted by another of Seth's attempts to convince her to blow the wedding off.

"And you're fooling yourself if you think you'll be happy with him. Cuz you don't love him, Summer."

This statement caused Summer to laugh again, and she threw her head back, shaking her head. "How do you know what I feel?"

Seth rolled his lips inward and moved closer to her again until their knees were touching and she could smell his aftershave. It hadn't changed over the years, he still smelled like High School, like Newport Beach, like home.

Seth's heart pounded hard inside his chest as he once again took Summer's hands in his own and started to gently rub them with his thumbs. "It's in your every move. It's in the way you look at him, and in the way you look at me. Summer, don't you feel the sparks between us every time we're together?"

Of course she felt them. In fact, they had never gone away since they had broken up. Summer felt her eyes water and her gaze darkened, trying to cover the wetness of her eyes. She slowly lifted her head and faced him.

"You have no right to do this to me. Not the night before my wedding." She said, fighting her voice from cracking.

Out of an impulse that told her the best solution was to run away from the situation, Summer jumped up, pulling Seth's vest tighter around her upper body and headed for the club's entrance without saying another word to Seth.

The same jumped up as well, not willing to give her up so easily. "Summer, wait!" he yelled and started to run after her. When he reached her he saw that some tears had begun to run down her cheeks, and he interpreted that as a good sign. It showed that she still had feelings for him, because if she didn't, why waste so much emotion on somebody you didn't care for?

Summer swallowed and looked away, wiping away some tears that had gathered on her chin. "No, Cohen. I'm getting married tomorrow, to Craig. You're too late." She said as coldly as she could and started to run again.

Seth still wasn't willing to give up, and he grabbed Summer's arm, spinning her around, lifting her chin so she had to face him. He gave her the best bambi-eye-look he could manage.

"Summer, I know that you love me. You can try to deny it, but that doesn't change your feelings. Unless you tell me that you don't love me I won't give up on you so easily."

More tears started to flow from Summer's eyes, and she turned around, wrapping the coat tight around her shoulders, giving him the best icy stare she could manage with that tons of emotions inside of her.

"I don't love you, Seth." She said flatly and turned around again, trying hard not to burst into tears in front of his eyes, ignoring the incredible pain in her heart as she saw the hurt look in his eyes as soon as the sentence had been spoken.

Summer's breathing became faster and her pace quickened towards the entrance of the club. She didn't dare to turn around and see how Seth was doing. She knew that if she turned around now she would give in to her feelings and go back to him. But she was an adult woman now, and she had to face the consequences of the choices she made. And her choice had been to marry Craig, and she would do that.

When she was inside the club, Summer gave up on telling herself stupid lies to prevent herself from crying, and she leant against the wall, slowly sliding down on it until she sat on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest and Seth's vest covering most of her face, and she started to sob uncontrollably. Why in all world had she been so stupid and had refused the only man she had ever loved in her entire life? And why did it have to hurt so much to make the decision that seemed to be the most reasonable?

Seth had wanted to run after her the minute she had turned her back on him again, but her words – I don't love you, Seth – had felt as if she had just ripped out his heart, trampling on it. And not at once but piece by piece, and every piece that was ripped out seemed to be more painful than the one before, and he hadn't been able to move.

He couldn't believe that he had lost her forever. He would have given everything to bet that she would come back to him, that she would forget about Craig and start thinking about Seth and Summer as a couple again, a couple that should never have parted in the first place.

But here he was, all alone in front of a fancy club in the middle of Chicago, the waves of the Lake Michigan steadily rolling in and out the shore, every wave causing the terrible pain in his heart to increase.

As the realization of the meaning of her last words came crushing down on him Seth couldn't help but letting some tears of desperation fall down his face. Maybe it wouldn't have hurt so much if he hadn't been so sure about her coming back to him. He would have given his own life to bet that she would really leave Craig for him.

And now he had lost her forever.

In 24 hours from now, Miss Summer Roberts would be Misses Summer Matthews, and all he could do then was to write a greeting card.

When Seth couldn't stand the environment in which she had rejected him anymore he started to walk into the direction of the elevated train, his hands in his jeans pockets, and his head bowed.

What he needed right now was to go home, crawl up into bed with lots of alcohol and trying to gather some strength to somehow make it through the next day without bursting into tears at the wedding ceremony.

And he still had a whole night of mourning and pity in front of him, but he was almost sure that after this night, he would wake up exactly as heartbroken and lost as he was now. Because this was sorrow that would never go away.

_It only hurts when I'm breathing_

_My heart only breaks when it's beating_

_My dreams only die when I'm dreaming_

_So I hold my breath_

_To forget_

_(Shania Twain, It only hurts when I'm breathing)

* * *

Next chapter: The One That Got Away - part 1 outof2of the finale._


	17. The One That Got Away

_A/N: I loved all of the reviews I got on the last chapter, they were amazing! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, you're the greatest! So today's the first part of the finale... it took her a long time but now Summer starts to really think about her feelings too... let's see how it turns out..._

**The One That Got Away**

_If I, I could be anyone_

_Could I, I be your only one_

_If I, I could be anything_

_Could I be the secret you keep_

_Breath that you breathe_

_Be your dreams while you sleep?_

_If you, if you could read my mind_

_Then you, you'd know I crossed that line_

_I, I'd make you my Valentine_

_I can't let you go but I know_

_That this ring is there to remind_

_So let's re-enact that scene_

_From what's-his-name's one-act play_

_I'll be your hero_

_And you will be the one who got away_

_(Bon Jovi, The One That Got Away)_

When Seth woke up the next morning he felt happy.

Unfortunately, this happiness only lasted for that short amount of time you needed every morning to realize what day it was, or what was laying ahead of you.

And it didn't even take Seth more than five seconds until the awful conversation he had had with Summer the night before came back into his mind.

"_I don't love you, Seth."_

Seth closed his eyes and sighed, trying desperately to numb the pain in his heart he felt whenever he recalled their coversation. He had confessed her his love, he had practically fallen on his knees in front of her – and she had rejected him. And as if that hadn't been terrible enough, she had told him that she didn't love him.

Another heartache overcame Seth when he realized that there were only – he glanced at his alarm clock – two hours left until Summer would be married to Craig, and out of his reach forever.

And to top all of this she would be moving to Atlanta right after their finals. Seth winced when he remembered that those finals were only two weeks away now, and with that last bit of the-world-is-against-me-feeling coming to his mind he covered himself under the blankets and closed his eyes again in the hope to get some sleep.

Just fourty seconds later he opened his eyes again, angrily shoving the blanket away. He needed to get ready for the wedding. Shaking his head, Seth sat up, and every move he made was literally hurting.

It took him almost five more minutes until he actually stood up from the edge of the bed and went over to the bathroom. When he looked at himself in the mirror, he felt like crying all over again. It was not like he hadn't cried the night before, because he had – after he had drowned his sorrow in some beers and other alcoholic stuff he could find in one of the kitchen shelves he had taken out his photoalbums from High School.

And when he had opened them, looking at the pictures when he and Summer had still been a couple – a happy couple – he couldn't help but crying, crying over everything he had lost last night, and over that one person he loved so much and had yet been stupid enough to let her go.

He shook his head to his image in the mirror. If someone would ask him to sum his image up he would have probably said that he looked terrible. Nothing more to add.

Seth sighed and turned on the shower. This would be the worst day of his life.

* * *

At the same time, Summer, Jenny and Chris were already in the church were the wedding was supposed to be held. They were working on Summer's appearance for the most important day of her life, and everyone was excited. Everyone except Summer herself.

Everything Summer felt was numbness inside of her. On the outside, she tried to smile and be happy, but the conversation she had had with Seth the night before had stirred up more feelings than she was ready to admit. She hadn't been sleeping all night. Well, after her little crying attack in the club she had felt incredibly tired, and went home – only to find herself laying awake almost all night.

Jenny pulled Summer out of her daydreaming as she brushed some powder over her nose.

"We need to cover those freckles," she said. "They make you seem too young."

Summer only looked at Jenny and shrugged. If Jenny thought that her freckles made her too young then they did. Summer didn't care.

"Darlin', you're gonna love your hair! We'll have it all wavy and hanging down your shoulders, which will look like SO romantic with that gorgeous dress of yours!" Chris exclaimed while he combed through Summer's hair, curlers and a curling iron in his hands.

Summer nodded. "Whatever." She replied and stared into the distance. How come that everybody else was more excited than her?

Well, maybe because she was realizing slowly but surely that she was doing the wrong thing… she shook her head angrily and cleared her throat, which left Jenny and Chris staring at her with confused looks on their faces.

"Don't you like it?" Chris asked and stroked Summer's long brown hair. Summer smiled sadly and watched her hair in the mirror that was in front of her. "No, the hair's perfect." She whispered, and she didn't lie. Chris was a real master at giving a girl the perfect hair.

"So it's the make up then." Jenny stated and tilted her head. "You know, I can leave the freckles visible if you want me to."

Summer closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, the make up's fine… I… just…"

"You don't know if you're doing the right thing, huh?" Chris asked sympathetically and hugged Summer from behind.

Summer's eyes widened and she stared at Chris in the mirror. "I-I don't…I-"

"Aww, sweetie, that's completely okay. Everyone goes through this on their wedding day. Everyone. I promise everything's gonna be okay."

"Sure." Summer said and looked down on her hands that were resting in her lap.

While Summer was examining her hands, Chris looked at Jenny with his eye wide open as if he wanted to ask her what was wrong, and Jenny just shrugged, although she had an assumption of what was wrong with Summer – even though she didn't want to say it out loud.

All of a sudden, Summer looked up and smiled broadly, the sadness from before completely disappeared. "So what's wrong with you two? No breaks allowed, we have pretty much to do until the wedding starts!" she chimed and sat up straight.

Jenny raised an eyebrow but did as she was told and concentrated on Summer's make up while Chris busied himself with her hair again.

As her friends went back to their work, Summer's smile faded as she was trying to convince herself to stick with her decision to marry Craig. The wedding was less than two hours away now, and even if she wanted to she couldn't have been able to return anymore.

* * *

"Okay, can you tell me what bullshit that was before? Telling her that it's gonna be okay?" Jenny said through gritted teeth as she slapped Chris on the back of his head as soon as Summer had announced that she wanted to leave the room to get some fresh air.

"Ooooouch! Hell, what was that for?" Chris asked and pouted.

Jenny crossed her arms in front of her chest and shook her head. "Are you really that stupid? Or am I talking Chinese all of a sudden?"

"You're mad at me because I told her everything was gonna be okay? Cuz I took some of our friend's nervosity?"

"No, cuz you told her that it was OKAY that she's marrying Craig! And you know that it isn't! She doesn't love him, doofus." Jenny said and sighed, waiting for an explanation.

Chris looked down on his shoes and shrugged. "Jen, she told Seth that he's too late. She doesn't wanna be with him."

"She doesn't know what she wants! She thinks she's doing an adult thing, but she's making the biggest mistake of her life! She can't under any circumstances marry Craig!" Jenny yelled and looked around her as she realized that she was talking way too loudly. And the walls of the church weren't exactly soundproof.

"I know that, but I guess it's kind of late to talk some reason into her, huh? And she had a whole night to figure out if she really wants this marriage or not." Chris said and bend down to Jenny so he didn't have to talk in a loud voice. "And she's here, isn't she? Which means that she wants to marry Craig."

Jenny shook her head and gave Chris the most evil glare she could manage. "You've gone mad. Completely crazy. If you want to let our friend run down the road to ruin, go ahead. I'm gonna go and talk some sense into that girl." She announced and turned on her heels without looking back, leaving a very guilty looking Chris behind.

* * *

Summer and her friends weren't the only ones with insecurities on that fateful day. Even Craig found himself wondering if the decision he had made had been the right one. As he was staring at the engagement ring on his finger, he was recalling the night he had proposed to Summer. Her hesitation back then had really hurt him, and it had only confirmed his fears – that she didn't really love him. But in the end, she had agreed to marry him, and she was here today. That was enough.

And it hadn't been just a coincidence that Craig had been "offered" this job in Atlanta so fast – he had kind of helped himself getting the job. There would have been enough time for them to plan a wedding, and actually be engaged for a couple of months before they needed to move there. But Craig knew that the longer Summer was around that Seth Cohen guy, the more she would question her decision of marrying him. And the worst thing that could happen was that she would leave him for Cohen.

That was why he had proposed to her in the first place. He had been totally fine with "just" being boyfriend and girlfriend, but the closer the semester came to the finals, the closer Summer seemed to have gotten to Seth, and Craig didn't like that at all. Summer was his girlfriend, and he wanted to be with her – always. That had been the reason for the whole rush on this wedding.

As the church bells started to ring, Craig smiled. It was only a few moments now, and Summer would officially become his wife. And he wouldn't need to be afraid that the woman he loved would leave him for some guy called Seth Cohen.

* * *

After her make up and hair were fixed, Summer had felt like suffocating in her dressing room, and she had excused herself from Jenny and Chris, and had told them she was going to get some fresh air. Without looking at any of the people that were already sitting in the church, Summer pushed her way through the crowds towards the big wooden church doors.

As she was finally outside, Summer leant against the opened door gratefully. She inhaled deeply, trying desperately to get rid from the huge lump that was forming in her throat with every breath she took. The wedding hadn't even begun and she was already running out of energy to tell herself that she was doing the right thing. The image of Seth she always carried in her heart, of him smiling at her, showing off his wonderful dimples, never left her, and the sensation the kiss at his birthday party had given her was still sending shivers up and down her spine when she thought about it.

She was desperately trying to find similar moments she had with Craig, but she wasn't able to. Everytime she was close to find a romantic moment she had had with her fiancée Seth came back to her mind, driving her almost insane. This wasn't normal anymore, was it? She had said yes to Craig, and she was here, on her wedding day, in her wedding dress. This wasn't the time for insecurities. This was the time for commitment. The time for commitment of her love to…

"Cohen?" she whispered as she saw a very familiar figure approaching the church, looking terribly devastated, in a black suit, his head bowed, and his hands in his pockets. Summer felt her breath quicken and she closed her eyes, trying to calm down a bit. Her brain was playing tricks on her. She had been thinking so much about Seth the past few minutes, her brain was even pretending she actually saw him here in front of the church. The wedding was starting in a few minutes, and he was **in** the church by now… right?

But as she opened her eyes again, he was still there. He wasn't walking anymore, he just stood in the middle of the path that led up to the huge church and stared at her, with so much pain in his eyes that Summer felt like passing out right at that moment. She wasn't sure, but she even thought that she could see some tears in his eyes. As she blinked twice Summer realized that she had some tears falling down her own face, and she reached up to her left cheek to wipe them away, her gaze never leaving Seth's, just as if she was afraid that he would disappear as soon as she would look away.

* * *

How could it be so painful to look at another person? How could a woman's beauty and perfection hurt so much it felt like your heart was breaking into millions of pieces? And how could the electricity of her stare make your arms ache to hold her, and your lips burn to kiss her? To make her all yours?

Never before in his life Seth had felt that helpless. That desperate. That out of place. There she was, standing outside the church, her long brown hair hanging down her shoulders in slight waves, framing her flawless face. Her dress was a dream of white silk, underlining the shape of her body perfectly. And there were tears running down her cheeks which the bright afternoon sunlight made sparkle beautifully.

When she raised her hand to clean her face from those tears, it was too much for Seth to take. He loved her more than anything, and he wanted her to be happy. And if the sight of him made her cry he knew he needed to leave. She needed to do this on her own. Summer Roberts and Seth Cohen were long history, and he knew he needed to accept that, even if it hurt like hell.

With one last glance at her breathtaking beauty, Seth took a deep breath and turned around and slowly walked back in the direction of his car. The more steps he took the faster he walked, and the farther away he got from the church the more he felt her gaze burning on his back, causing him to break into a run. He ran as if death in person followed him, and only when he was sure that he was out of her sight he stopped, leaning against the wall of a nearby house. He bowed his head and shook it, trying to get rid of her image in his head, but no matter how hard he tried to erase her from his thoughts it didn't work.

It would never work.

Because he would love Summer Roberts forever.

* * *

Now he had disappeared. But it hadn't been a dream. It still felt like one to Summer, but she knew that the hurt in his gaze and the tears in his eyes were reality. She was still staring at the place he had stood in a few seconds ago and tried to understand what was just happening to her. At the sight of him, her stomach had turned somersaults and her heart had begun to race.

If she was doing the right thing by marrying Craig, why did her whole body long to be with somebody else? Why did every bone in her body refuse to go into the church again and say "yes" to Craig?

Summer swallowed hard and closed her eyes, breathing steadily and trying to calm herself down. She needed to get a clear head now. Today was the most important day of her life, and she was supposed to be happy and joyful. Seth Cohen was history. But what if…

"There you are."

Jenny's voice send Summer back to reality, and she opened her eyes again. "Are you okay?" Jenny asked, her gaze worried. She laid a hand on Summer's arm and tilted her head as if she was trying to comfort her best friend somehow.

Slowly, Summer nodded. "Jen…" she said, her voice croaky. Taking one last glance at the place Seth had been standing in before, she faced her friend again and cleared her throat. "Jen, I need you to do me a favor…"

Jenny's eyes widened and she nodded. "Whatever you want, baby."

Summer forced a small smile and sighed. There was no room for new decisions now. A few seconds ago, when Seth had been running away from her, she had made one. And now she would stick to it.

* * *

Next chapter: The Right Side Of Wrong - guess what happens...


	18. The Right Side Of Wrong

_A/N: Back with the penultimate chapter. I'm so glad you like the story so far, and I hope you'll like it even more after this chapter. I should warn you: since it's a season finalewritten by me, it's extremely cheesy. But I guess you all deserve cheesiness after the long time SS spend apart in this story. So here you go._

_A/N: And again, a big thanks to everyone who reviewed and everyone who liked the story, reading these reviews makes my day, everytime. Please review again._

**The Right Side Of Wrong **

The wind blew through his hair as he stared out onto the lake. He glanced at his watch and his heart ached when he saw that the wedding ceremony was almost over now. Just a few seconds from now Summer would be a married woman, and he would have lost her forever.

Blinking back some tears, Seth thought about the day he had first fallen in love with Summer Roberts. It had been their first day in fifth grade, and during the lunch break, Summer and her friends were sitting at a table nearby some bushes. Two squirrels lived in those bushes, a big fat one and a small thin one. They would watch the little girls carefully from out their hideout, and as soon as a piece of bread or anything else to eat was accidentally dropped on the floor, the big squirrel would jump out of the bushes, grab the food and disappear, leaving the small squirrel hungry.

Seth remembered how sad Summer had been when she watched the scene between the squirrels, and his heart melted all over again, just like it had melted so many years ago. He smiled to himself when he recalled how heavily Summer had cursed on the big squirrel, and told him to go away and leave some food for his small and thin friend, but of course, the big fat squirrel hadn't listened.

So Summer had sat down on the floor, took her piece of bread, and shared her lunch with the small squirrel that, to everyone's surprise, wasn't at all afraid of her. And that had been the moment for Seth. Right at that moment, when Summer had been sitting on the floor to share her food with that little animal, Seth had fallen in love with her. Because it was then that he had understood that despite the hard and bitchy shell Summer was sheltering herself with, she had a huge and good heart.

And ever since that day he loved her. And over the years, Seth's love for her had grown to an amount that he wouldn't have thought was possible. He loved her so much that it hurt. And he would have done anything for her. And by anything he really meant anything. If he had to throw himself in front of an approaching train to save Summer's life, he'd to it. Without hesitation.

But all his love hadn't been enough to bring Summer back to him. The last words she had told him still echoed in his mind, and Seth figured that they would never go away.

"_I don't love you, Seth."_

He shook his head and let some silent tears fall down his cheeks. This couldn't be true. She had been lying. He knew that she loved him, he just knew. But obviously, she was just too proud to admit it.

Seth wiped away his tears and sighed, taking a few steps to the shore. By now Summer was probably a married woman, heading out of the church to the limo that would bring her and Craig to the airport so that they could go on their honeymoon. The mere thought of that scenery made Seth's heart break into millions of pieces all over again.

When Seth was halfway to the shore, he paused. Something had just changed. Something was different. He closed his eyes and his heart started to beat in an unnatural rhythm. Could this be? Or was his mind playing tricks on him?

A shiver went down his spine and suddenly, he knew that he had sensed it right.

She was there.

* * *

Never before in her life Summer had been so happy and scared at the same time. Happy because she was finally free to give Seth all the love she had reserved for him, and only for him, and scared because she didn't know if after her rejection from the night before, Seth would still want to be with her.

But it was too late to turn around now. She had been running away once today, and she wouldn't run away a second time. She had asked Jenny to drive her here, and her best friend had taken the promise from her not to come back without Seth.

She was still wearing her wedding dress as she approached Seth's favorite spot on the beach. When he had run awayfrom church Summer had immediately known where to find him, and she had been right. She just knew Seth Cohen way too good.

Summer's heart beat so hard against her chest that she was afraid she might faint any minute now whenshe spotted him standingwith bare feetin the sand, staring out on the lake. He had his back turned to her, but she knew that he had been crying. She could tell that from the way he was standing there, his shoulders slumped forward and his head bowed.

Any normal person would have started to cry too after the things she had told him the night before. But she knew that she would make up for everything as soon as both of them were together again.

With shaking legs, Summer tried to take her shoes off, something that wasn't easily done when your knees were so weak.

She put the shoes down and stroked her hair that had been messed up by the wind and was now standing into every possible direction behind her ears and closed her eyes. She counted to three and opened them again, taking a few steps forward. She didn't exactly know why she was so nervous, but with every step that she got closer to Seth her heart began to beat even faster.

He would take her back, wouldn't he? He had told her he loved her more than anything just a few hours ago, and he couldn't possibly have changed his mind, could he?

Summer paused and swallowed as she felt an immense lump in her throat. Her hands shook and she shivered, closing her eyes once again.

"You can do it, Summer." She whispered, trying desperately to encourage herself. "You can do it."

And as she opened her eyes again she almost suffered from a heart attack when she saw that he was staring at her with his eyes wide open.

* * *

So he had been right. She was really there.

Adrenaline shot through Seth's veins when he spotted Summer standing behind him, only a few meters away. He blinked twice and took a step forward, and he saw that she had been crying. All of a sudden, his arms ached to embrace her and to comfort her.

And her beauty took his breath away. Seth had seen Summer all dressed up so many times before, and every time Seth had thought that she couldn't top herself anymore, but the way she looked today was the absolute maximum of beauty anyone could reach. She looked like an angel that had just fallen down from the sky, with her dark hair in slight waves and her stunning white wedding dress that underlined the perfection of her body.

His lips burned to pepper her throat and her perfect face with gentle kisses, and he blinked twice to ensure that she wasn't just a vision. But she didn't disappear. She had really come back to him.

Summer smiled shyly and took a few steps in Seth's direction so that they were only inches apart now. When she saw that his eyes were all red and puffy from crying she felt like her heart was melting right out of her chest and into his hands.

"I made you cry." She whispered and moved her trembling hand up to his face, gently wiping away the rest of the tears that had been falling a few minutes before her arrival. Seth nodded and bowed his head, his gaze falling on her perfect figure.

His devastated look caused Summer's tears to dwell up all over again, and she slowly moved her hand away to cover her mouth to avoid her sobs from escaping. And it was right at that moment that she made the promise to herself that she would never, ever hurt Seth Cohen again the way she had the night before.

All of a sudden, Summer felt Seth's hand on her chin, and he lifted her head so that she had to look him right in the eyes. "And I made you cry." He said, his voice croaky.

Summer shook her head firmly and cupped Seth's face in her hands. "You didn't." she whispered and smiled warmly. "I made myself cry."

Seth returned her smile, showing off his dimples. And that sealed the deal for Summer. She couldn't resist the burning desire for him in her heart anymore and leant over to kiss him with all the love she had been hiding for the last four years.

And the kiss was heaven. Seth and Summer kissed each other more passionately than ever before, trying desperately to make up for the lost time they had spend apart.

After a while, Summer softly shoved Seth away from her, her head all dizzy and her heart full of joy. When she saw the confused look on Seth's face she took his hands in hers and smiled.

"Seth..." she said and lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Seth lifted her head again. "Don't be."

Summer shook her head firmly and blinked away some more tears. "I am." She said. "I hurt you even though everything you said last night was true. I pushed you away even though you are the only person I want to be with. And I lied to you."

Seth wasn't able to speak and just looked down on her, amazed by her breathtaking beauty.

"I told you I didn't love you-" she paused to see his reaction, and when she saw that his eyes were so full of love and hope new tears came up, and she wiped them away angrily. "But that's not true..." New sobs escaped her mouth and Summer couldn't help but starting to cry all over again.

Seth had always hated to see Summer crying, and the fact that she was crying over him now made his heart ache. He felt how his own tears were rising again, tears of joy that she finally admitted what he had known for so long already. His arms reached out to embrace her, and Summer fell onto Seth's chest, sobbing, and clinging on to him like she was drowning.

For a long time, Seth and Summer stood like that, hugging each other as tight as they could, trying to realize what was just going on. When Summer had calmed a little she whispered, almost unhearable, "I love you, Seth. I love you so much."

Seth had known that since Summer had shown up here on the beach, but hearing her saying those words made his heart almost explode with joy, and he pulled her even closer to him, never wanting to let her go again. This was just like a dream come true, and before anyone could wake him up again, he returned her words, kissing her on the top of her head.

"I love you too, Summer." He sighed happily and shook his head, not wanting to believe that his biggest desire had just come true. "I love you too."

Again both of them fell silent, letting the wonderful feeling of being in the other's arms fill their hearts.

They also gave each other some time to process everything that had happened that day – an almost-wedding, hurt, rejection, desperation, but above all, deep and true love.

Summer's voice broke the silence, and she wiped away her tears, relieved to see that there were no new ones coming. She was too happy to cry right now.

"Seth?" she looked up into Seth's eyes but didn't move an inch away from him. Being so close to him was something too precious to let go now. The wind played with his brown curls and Summer worked hard to suppress the urge to run her hands through them and kiss him all over again.

Seth tilted his head, still stunned by her breathtaking beauty. He stroked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, a thing that didn't really help due to the strong wind that made the strand dance around Summer's face all over again. "Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?" Summer asked and moved a little closer to Seth, if that was even possible. The mere feeling of his body against hers made her the happiest woman on earth, and she never wanted to let that feeling go again.

Seth nodded and pulled his arms tighter around her back, loving the warmth of her body on his own. "Everything."

Summer smiled too. "Why do you always come here when you want to be alone? It's one of the most crowded places in the whole city."

Seth grinned, showing off his dimples, and for the first time since their make up kiss he took his eyes away from her, looking out on the lake and the lights that were shimmering on it.

"I don't know." He said and sighed. "I guess it reminds me of home. You know with the water and all. The sound of the waves makes me feel kinda relaxed. And it helps me thinking."

When Summer giggled in response, Seth raised one eyebrow and grinned. "What?"

Summer shrugged and smiled. "You sound like a seaman."

Finally, Seth was able to take one of his arms away from her, putting it on his hip and playing the shocked one. "So you wanna tell me that you don't have a weakness for seamen?" he asked and reached out to tickle her.

As soon as Seth's fingers touched her ribcase, Summer broke off into hysterical laughter, trying her best to make him stop. But as usual, she failed.

And Seth had never felt so good before. He swore to himself right at that moment that he wanted to keep her screams and laughter in his mind forever, to treasure the wonderful evening on which fate had brought her back to him.

They chased each other on the beach for a little while, playing like children, until Seth finally managed to grab Summer's arm and pull her down with him on the cold but soft sand. They snuggled as close as they could, until their faces almost touched, and totally out of breath, Summer smiled.

"I love you." She whispered, and although she had admitted that tiny but very important fact only a few minutes before she felt like she needed to repeat it over and over again. Tracing the features of his face with her finger, she wrapped one of her legs around his waist and brought herself only closer to him. "I love you so much."

Hearing her say those words made Seth's mind go completely numb, and the whole world seemed to stop just to hear her confess her love to him. The numbness in his body was filled with a comfortable warmth and the almost overwhelming love he felt for her.

Seth took her chin and moved her face closer to his own until their lips brushed slightly. That single brush sent shivers up and down Seth's spine, and he couldn't wait for the sensation a kiss gave him.

Their lips touched fully, and it felt even more intense and better than the kiss they had shared before, like a firework of love was exploding over their heads, and none of them ever wanted to let go.

The urge to breathe parted them for a split second, and brown eyes caught brown eyes, exchanging looks that said more than words, because they knew that from now on, they would never ever be apart again. "I love you too. I always have." Seth finally whispered, and Summer smiled. She had known that for… for ever, but each time he told her the words was a new and overwhelming event she wanted to cherish forever.

"How do you feel now?" Summer whispered.

Seth smiled and brought his face close to her, until he felt as if he could drown in her chocolate brown eyes. He wasn't sure how he was feeling besides idiotically happy. His whole day had been an emotional rollercoaster, and he was still trying to figure out today's events somehow. The only thing Seth was sure about was that he would worship and love Summer until the end of his life, and he knew that nothing would ever change that.

Placing a gentle kiss on her nose before pulling her into another longing kiss, he whispered, "Home."

* * *

_Next chapter: Epilogue - You Can't Change A Good Thing_


	19. You Can't Change A Good Thing

_A/N: Thanks for all the stunning reviews on the last chapter! I loved all of them, and I love all of you who reviewed, and I'm glad that you enjoyed the story so much! I'm kind of sad right now because this is the last chapter in this story. A short epilogue of how Seth and Summer's lives went on after their reunion. I hope you like it as much as the rest of the story, and please review, one last time :)_

**You Can't Change A Good Thing**

She was so beautiful. So pretty. And even though she was so tiny, she was the most precious thing in his life. He loved her even more than he loved Summer. No, that wasn't true. He loved her in a complete different way than he loved Summer, but he loved them both more than his own life, that was for sure.

Seth readjusted the camera he was holding and grinned.

"Move a little to the left…" he said and found Summer making a face at him.

"You're the one with the camera, if someone's moving it should be you." She said, trying to sound annoyed.

Seth shook his head but continued smiling. "All I want is a tiny little space between the Princess and you."

At the word "Princess", Summer's gaze softened and she looked down on the tiny bundle of life that was sleeping peacefully next to her. Her daughter. No, _their_ daughter. Seth's and her beautiful little two-month-old baby daughter Carrie.

Every time Summer looked at the baby she couldn't believe that she was actually hers. Her life seemed so perfect that she was afraid sometimes that someone would wake her up and tell her that it was over.

But every time little Carrie had a dirty diaper or was crying and neither Seth nor her knew how to calm their little daughter it seemed real again.

"Seth, let me do that." Sandy's voice interrupted Summer's thoughts and she smiled as she saw how unwillingly Seth seemed to give in to Sandy's request to take the photo from them.

"I'm not sure if you can do that." Seth said and scratched his head.

At that comment, Summer laughed out loud and threw her head back. "God, Cohen..." she giggled and wiped away some laughing tears that had appeared in the corners of her eyes, "if anyone knows how to take a picture it should be your dad, don't you think? So now move your ass over here."

Seth pouted and looked from Sandy who smiled broadly at him to Summer who had an amused grin on her face. "But I-"

"Shut up and move your bony ass over here." Summer said again, this time with a threatening look on her face that made Seth give in eventually.

He held his hands up and shrugged. "If you say so..." he mumbled and went over to his little family, spooning Summer from behind and watching the sleeping baby over his girlfriend's shoulder.

"Perfect!" Sandy exclaimed and grinned broadly. "You're gonna love this."

"I could have done this too." Seth whispered into Summer's ear and the same rolled her eyes, turning slightly around to face him. "I'm sure you would've." She said and pinched him in the cheek with her fingers. "And now shut up and smile into the camera."

Seth did as he was told and gave his father the friendliest smile he could manage when he heard a very familiar voice in the distance. The shrill squeaking of his little sister – that meant another interruption of the family photoshoot.

And just as he had predicted, Lilly's little face poked into the room, her eyes widening twice their normal size when she spotted babyCarrie laying in front of Summer, and – typically Cohen – she just ran over to the baby, not caring at all that her father was trying to take pictures of Seth, Summer and little Carrie.

"Aww, can I hold her? Pretty pleeeeeaaaase." Lilly asked, clapping her hands to emphasize how great it would be for her to hold the little girl.

Seth rolled his eyes and sighed, but Summer smiled broadly and stroked a strand of hair away from Lilly's forehead.

"No – Yes" they answered at the same time, and Lilly looked quite confused all of a sudden.

"Stop being a pain in the ass and let dad take the photos, will you, Lil?" Seth asked, his voice unnerved.

Summer frowned and hit Seth in the ribs with her elbow. "Shut up, Cohen." She mumbled and faced Lilly again, putting up a friendly smile. "Sure you can hold her, honey, but let your daddy take the photos first, okay?"

Lilly sniffed a little but nodded eventually. "Okay, I'll be outside playing with the Barbie family... They're taking a trip to the zoo today." She said and turned around without waiting for an answer.

"Oooh, suspense." Seth mumbled while Lilly was walking away, and Summer hit him in the ribs again, this time a little harder than before.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Seth asked indignantly.

"That was for making fun of your sweet little sister." She explained and turned her attention to Carrie who had started to whimper a little, softly stroking the baby's tiny head that was covered by beautiful dark hair.

"Is everybody ready? I'm an old man, my weak arms can't hold up a camera like this for long…" Sandy's voice interrupted the happy family moment and Summer looked up from her little daughter and smiled at him innocently. "Sorry, Sandy. Of course we're ready." She answered. "Aren't we Seth?"

"I'm always ready." Seth said and grinned one of his irresistible smiles that had always made Summer's heart melt away.

A few moments later Sandy was putting his photographer stuff away while Summer was rocking her little daughter to sleep in her arms, Seth sitting next to them and watching them. From the look on his girlfriend's face he could easily tell that she currently was in a state of pure happiness. He had never seen Summer looking at somebody the way she looked at Carrie, not even at him. It was this special mother-look she had since she had been giving birth to their daughter, and everytime she wore it it made Seth love her even more.

There she was, their daughter Carrie, their creation, the bond that would hold them together for the rest of their lives, whether they wanted it or not, in the arms of the only woman he had ever loved. The woman he knew he would love until the day he died.

Just as Seth was about to once again consider himself as the luckiest man on the planet, his little sister came marching into the room again, stucking out her small chest proudly and grinning from one ear to another. "The photos are finished, can I hold her now?" she asked and placed herself in front of Summer and Seth, watching baby Carrie expectingly.

Seth rolled his eyes and stood up to help his sister sit in a nearby rocking chair. "Fine then. You won't be quiet until you really can, will you?" he asked while Lilly smiled brightly at him. "Not really!" she exclaimed and leant back in the chair.

"Okay, but you have to stabilize her head, okay? Because she hurts herself if you don't." Summer said and softly put the baby in Lilly's arms. "I know." The same said and rolled her eyes. "I'm not dumb-o."

Summer and Seth gave each other an amused look. "She's just like you." Summer said and sat next to the rocking chair, stroking her daughter's head and watching over her while Lilly held her.

"Hey Summy? Can I ask you something?" Lilly asked, her gaze never leaving the baby.

"What Lilly?"

"They want us to write something about bliss in school. And I will ask anyone I know what is their bliss, and then I will write about it. Cool, huh?"

Summer grinned and nodded. "Very cool. Who did you ask yet?"

Lilly shrugged and giggled as baby Carrie hiccupped in her arms. "No one. You're the first." She said and smiled brightly at Summer who raised an eyebrow.

"You want to know what's bliss to me?"

Lilly nodded and focused her attention to the baby in her arms again. Summer wasn't sure if Lilly was really paying attention to anything she would say now, so she hung on to her thoughts for a little while.

And she only knew one way to describe what was bliss for her. It was just as easy. Everything that made her life what it was was gathered in this room, close to her. She threw a sideways glance over to the wall that Seth was leaning on, a happy smile on his face. Everything she had and everything she loved started with him. He had shown her love in the past, and she knew he would show her even more of it in the future. And Summer knew that she would always love him, as long as she lived. The love between them might change over the years, the initial fire would slowly but surely subside, and what would be left then was real love that would last a lifetime. Summer had no doubt that Seth was the one she would be with for the rest of her life.

She looked back to the little human being that was now sleeping soundly in Lilly's arms, and her heart was filled with even more joy. As if Seth hadn't given her enough by loving her, he had given her this wonderful little girl that sealed their love forever.

"Bliss is…" Summer finally said and turned her head to smile at Seth. "What you see here, Lilly."

At those words, Seth couldn't help but smile even more. He knew her so well, and yet she surprised him everyday. When he looked back on the early college years, he didn't even know how he had survived one single day of being without her. Their break up had been the stupidest thing they had ever done in their entire lives, but it had also given them time to realize how much they really loved each other.

And after Summer had come back to him at the day of her wedding with Craig, they hadn't spend a single day apart, just as if they had wanted to make up for lost time. Carrie was the result of that. One year after they had officially gotten their college degrees, the little girl was born, and Seth had never been more amazed by something or someone before. The birth of his first child would always be burned in his mind, the countless hours of labor Summer had to go through until she finally was there, the first scream the tiny person had made as soon as she was there, and the idiotic feeling of happiness as the nurses had placed the crying baby on Summer's chest. Seth knew he would cherish those moments forever.

And when the time was right, he would show Summer how much he really loved her. He let one of his hands slide into the pocket of his sports jacket, fingering for the tiny box that was in there. A content smile crossed his lips and he sighed. He didn't have any doubts that Summer would accept the ring that was in there when he asked her tonight.

They brought Carrie to sleep every night together, and he was planning on proposing to her then.

And when Summer turned her head and smiled at him again, her eyes full of love, Seth knew it was the right thing to do.

It was just as easy as that. You can't change a good thing.

* * *

_So, this was it.I hope you liked it. I really enjoyed writing this story, I puta lot of work in it, and I'm happy how it turned out. Please leave one last review before you go, that would make me happy. I'm already working on anew story, and I hope I'll pubish it sometime in July. See you around, folks hugs_

_Steffi_


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